QOTD

February 17, 2009 at 3:30 am PT

I think that if you look at the market today, volumes speak volumes. In the last year we shipped over 20m phones. I’d say, mostly, it’s game on–we are all out there. We are leading the pack on volume. I’d say Apple’s got some advantages on image, but we’re in the early stages.”

– Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer downplays the company’s iPhone envy

Tagged with: John Paczkowski, Microsoft, MSFT, QOTD, quoted, Steve Ballmer

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http://allthingsd.com/ Eric Welch

Laughable. Win Mobile is a mess, and the future version can’t come close to matching the iPhone that came out in June 2007. Let alone compete with what will be out when Win Mobile 6.5 finally arrives.

It’s game over for Microsoft. Their 20 million phones were for how many different providers? How many different pieces of hardware? It’s the exact opposite of what makes the iPhone such a smash hit. It’s the software. The hardware is irrelevant.

And how man applications are written for Win Mobile compared to the iPhone’s 20,000? I can now edit spreadsheets on the iPhone (not well, but it’s getting there fast) and Word documents, etc. What will there be for Win Mobile to tout as an exclusive feature when it finally arrives?
http://blog.macb.net Mac Beach

Question: “early stages” of what?

Apple’s position is unambiguous, they produce a “package”. Hardware, software and even the services that go with it are all carefully choreographed by Apple.

Microsoft has never executed such a holistic concept successfully (unless you count Xbox as a success rather than more accurately calling it a lesser failure than PlayStation).

If they end up vending a phone, of course other phone makers will see running Windows Mobile as a liability.

Hardware is a lot of work, and a lot of risk, and a low profit-margin business if it succeeds at all. Whenever MS talks about getting into the hardware business (beyond mice and keyboards that is) I think of the dumb rich kid taking a job at McDonald’s: this will be fun to watch while it lasts.