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What Microsoft Must Do To Save Its Mobile Business

Posted by kdawson on from the take-two-cyanide-pills-and-call-me-in-the-morning dept.

GMGruman writes "Microsoft has tossed out its mobile management team (without admitting to doing so), but is that enough to make Microsoft matter in mobile? InfoWorld's Galen Gruman argues that a lot more is needed than a management change if Microsoft hopes to have a future in the emerging mobile world. In his blog, he lays out a tough five-point prescription for Microsoft to get back in the game. For starters, Microsoft has to get out of its well-established cultural mindset that it's OK to ship crap that it might fix later on."

2 of 250 comments (clear)

  1. They need to find a marketplace for themselves. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I can't help but feel Microsoft has been wedged out of the mobile market by competitors that are specialized at doing everything better then they do.

    Wanna be a cool kid with a pretty phone?
    Apple has you covered.

    Need something uber business savvy but easy enough for a monkey in a suit to use?
    Get a blackberry

    Want a phone that doesn't hold you down?
    Get an Android phone

    Want a phone that runs on POS hardware and can barely handle anything?
    Oh crap, umm...no.

    What they do have, however, is excellent proprietary stuff like ActiveSync that's integrated into all these other cell phones. If I was them, I would focus on developing technology like that. Let the mobile market work for you, not the other way around.

    The Kin is an interesting attempt to wrangle the teenybopper market but I think they've already fallen to the iphone.

  2. Re:Just give up. by areusche · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I'm trying not to sound condescending here, but are you kidding me? Have you ever used a Windows Mobile phone before?

    I've been using Windows Mobile since the 2003se days and it has been light years ahead of whatever competitor was pumping out. Things like multitasking, a somewhat open platform for development, and an interface that makes sense.

    The only downside has been the long time insistance from manufactures to only use 64mb of ram. Nowadays that number is up to 256mb.

    HTC has a number of drool worthy phones that spec wise pound the iphone to dust and anything that Palm can come up with.

    And finally Microsoft leaves its homebrew ROM kitchen development alone. Sites like PPCGeeks.com and xda-developers are two that come to mind.

    It's sad that people disregard Windows Mobile. It is nothing like the desktop crap. And seriously what major software or hardware manufacture doesn't pump out crap and fix it later? At least Windows Mobile works out of the box.

    Disclaimer: My first PDA was a Sony Clie. I loved Palm and used it for many years, but it's time to use a real device and software.