Windows News and info 15th Anniversary 2009-2024
Giants in Tech => Microsoft => Topic started by: javajolt on January 09, 2011, 10:58:36 PM
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Microsoft plans to broaden international distribution for Windows Phone 7 this year, and has not ruled out making another handset acquisition to boost its mobile fortunes.
The software giant said it would add language support for Chinese, Russian, Portuguese, Japanese and Korean later this year, which would help boost the scale of its new OS - which has been well received, but has a tough challenge to make a serious impact on Android and iOS.
Greg Sullivan, senior product manager for Windows Phone, told FierceWireless that WP7 was still only in "phase one" of its launch, and this had deliberately focused on specific markets and device profiles. "We were more focused on quality," he said. "We know over time we'll be able to scale." In the US, Verizon and Sprint will launch WP7 phones in the first half of 2011, joining north American launch partners T-Mobile and AT&T.
Microsoft says it now has 5,500 apps in its Windows Phone Marketplace and new ones are being added at a rate of about 100 a day.
In an interview last week with the CNBC channel, CEO Steve Ballmer did not rule out a major acquisition to kickstart Microsoft's smartphone business, in which WP7 is seen as it last chance to gain significant share. The firm has about $40bn of cash, but to date has not spent large sums on mobile-specific acquisitions. Its most important smartphone purchase was Danger, maker of the Sidekick mobile platform. Many of the ideas from that cultish product have found their way into WP7, especially with regards to the user interface and cloud services. However, the most direct heir of the Sidekick, Microsoft's Kin midrange handsets for Verizon, were shortlived.
The CNBC interviewers asked why Microsoft did not just make a bold acquisition, such as RIM or even Nokia. Ballmer replied: "Well, look, let's distinguish between bold technology bets and acquisitions. We've made bold technology bets ….. Now, when does an acquisition make sense? That's a complicated subject, probably best not addressed in this interview."