Motorola CEO states Windows Mobile 7 coming in 2010, is that too late for Microsoft?
According to recent financial reports Motorola is not doing too well in mobile devices. Motorola CEO Sanjay Jha was on an earnings conference call and according to AppScout he stated that Microsoft will be releasing the rumored Windows Mobile 7 OS in 2010. You can view the full transcript of the call yourself to see what was stated. In addition to the Windows Mobile 7 statement, Android was also brought up quite a bit as a focus for Motorola in 2009.
Mr. Jha seemed to intermix the usage of Windows and Windows Mobile a couple of times, such as in this statement:
As you know, Windows 6 series is available in 2009 and as compared to Android, we believe in 2009 Android is more competitive; more of our effort and focus in 2009 is going to Android, but in 2010 when Windows 7 will become available, we will then participate in a more focused way in Windows Mobile 7 in 2010.
Microsoft hasn't yet even officially announced Windows Mobile 6.5, but Steve Ballmer has already let that one slip a few times and this OS update will most likely be announced at Mobile World Congress in a couple weeks.
As readers here know, I find Windows Mobile to still be a very functional OS with lots of strengths, but do agree it is in need of some updates to compete with all the other devices in today's market. I wish with all of the Microsoft resources that they could turn out their products faster because they do have some amazing people, technologies, and ideas for mobile devices. I guess with the size of Microsoft, they also move a bit like the government and are unable to respond quickly to market changes.
2009 will be very interesting with hopefully more Android devices, the Palm Pre, maybe another iPhone device, more BlackBerry devices, and Nokia S60 with touch hitting with at least the N97. Can Microsoft maintain and increase its marketshare in this competitive environment.
Mr. Jha pointed out that Motorola has experience with Linux handsets and thus has an advantage over others when it comes to the Android OS. As quoted above, he also pointed out that they believe Android is more competitive than Windows Mobile in 2009.
Thanks to Sascha Segan from Gearlog for the heads-up on the news.