Microsoft currently holds 3rd place in the the smartphone market (Symbian and RIM are first and second respectively), and Apple, despite the success of iPhone is currently in 5th place. But where Apple is excelling is in growth. Apple has only been playing for a year and a half and already, Apple has 9 percent market share. Microsoft, who has had Windows Mobile OS on the market since, forever, only has 12.3 percent market share. If Microsoft doesn’t do something fast, it will see the likes of Apple (and possibly Palm, who has a lot of hype surrounding the company since the announcement of their new OS and new device, the Palm Pre), pass them up in the race for market share. So what does Microsoft have planned?
A New App Store
Microsoft has long had a strong developer community, writing applications for WinMo phones, and its had this developer support for a long time. What they haven’t had is a single repository for all of these apps, and it will attempt to remedy this by unveiling an app store to rival that of Apple’s, Google Andriod’s, and RIM’s.
A New Data Storage Service
Apple has MobileMe, a service that allows users to sync mobile contacts, email, and calendar events between your iPhone or iPod Touch. Microsoft’s equivalent: My Phone (interesting choice of words, eh?) So what sets My Phone apart? My Phone will be free, while MobileMe will set you back $99/year.
A New Device?
Alright. This is still very much a rumor, but it only makes sense that Microsoft will at some point come out with its own smartphone device to compete with the iPhone. Last week, rumors were swirling about a Microsoft branded phone that used an Nvidia Tegra chip to power it. Microsoft quickly denied the rumors, as they always do, but its my humble opinion that it will happen eventually, and it will tie into Microsoft’s Zune player to be a direct competitor to the iPhone.
So when is it coming?
The Mobile World Congress Trade Show will be happening next week in Barcelona, Spain, and Microsoft is expected to show what its truly got in store then. Stay tuned to see how Microsoft actually plays its hand. It’s setting up to be a good time.
