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Sendo vs. Microsoft: The Truth Comes Out
igotmybfg writes "The Register has a story which includes many details about the phone maker's Texas suit against the software giant. It seems that Microsoft had much more to gain from letting its partner fail than helping it to succeed: in the event of a bankruptcy, Microsoft acquired all of Sendo's intellectual property related to the z100 Stinger SmartPhone, and was then free to do whatever it wanted, which in this case turned out to be going behind Sendo's back and making a deal with Orange SPA." Read our original article about this to get more background information.
People, stop your frothing and think for a second. What does Microsoft want? Microsoft wants their software on every mobile device made, exactly the same way they want their software on every desktop PC.
Why the HELL would Microsoft, in a market they don't even yet play in, knife their premier partner in order to help another partner succeed? It doesn't make sense. What makes sense is that both hardware companies go to market, both selling compelling versions of a smartphone running Stinger. Robbing Peter to pay Paul is a losing strategy.
Forget business ethics, since we can take it for granted that, if Microsoft even has them, they are newly learned at the hands of the DoJ. Killing Sendo to benefit HTC would be a stupid decision, whatever vestigal IP MS might inherit, because the strategy is to be ubiquitiously licensed by everyone.
I understand that an inflammatory court filing from a nearly bankrupt little company trying to recoup some of its losses in a fat mother's-milk settlement straight from King Midas' teat has you a little stirred up, but the facts just don't add up. MS wins when Sendo AND HTC win, not when one or the other does. Look at the Pocket PC - 4 major vendors, now with Dell on-board. This is the same strategy as Smartphone.