In a recent interview with a German daily,
dead retired man walking Bill Gates chatted up the iPhone a bit, and either did a very good job of concealing his displeasure with its success in the American market, or genuinely doesn't give a flip about it. The key takeaway from the interview seems to be that Microsoft will not be launching an iPhone competitor, instead focusing its efforts on
improving Windows Mobile and leaving the manufacturing of desirable hardware to its licensees. As the::unwired mentions, this
seems to put
a few more nails in the coffin of the long-rumored Zune phone, though we suppose it's remotely possible that Billy somehow doesn't see the Zune phone as a direct competitor to the iPhone. Given the way Windows Mobile has stagnated the past couple years, though, we're totally cool with these guys keeping everybody focused on developing a revolutionary new platform and staying out of the hardware biz -- for now, anyway.
[Via
the::unwired]
posted Jan 13th 2008 at 7:03PM
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
JAmerican @ Jan 13th 2008 8:39PM
Dam it! We wanted him to so that WM can actually get a newly refreshed OS. Not the same bloat.
Constable Odo @ Jan 13th 2008 9:19PM
Of course he's not going after the iPhone. What would be the point. It's really a small market. Why even bother with the handset market at all. Might just as well start building laptops or mobile reading devices. It would present less of a headache than having to deal with carriers.
DT @ Jan 13th 2008 10:38PM
Yeah, I mean, who uses cellphones anyway? Maybe a few dozen people worldwide? There's NO money to be made in that market, that's for sure!
Pdexter @ Jan 14th 2008 10:30AM
Indeed. Nokia sells 1 million phones a day and belongs in the world 70 biggest companies...there's no money ;) And not to even talk that there is over 10 million phones sold every year only in India.
Nate @ Jan 15th 2008 12:23PM
It's a huge market, and it's getting bigger. If they don't launch an iPhone competitor, it's because they're hurting so much from the failure of the Zune to compete with the iPod.
Frankly, Windows Mobile is such a headache to use that, unless Microsoft gets some really fresh minds in the company, I don't see them being ABLE to compete with the iPhone. They just don't GET it.
At any rate, I'm expecting Android to shake everybody up - and I'm really looking forward to it. Windows Mobile will shrivel and die if you can get a much better alternative for free.
Nate @ Jan 15th 2008 12:24PM
It's a huge market, and it's getting bigger. If they don't launch an iPhone competitor, it's because they're hurting so much from the failure of the Zune to compete with the iPod.
Frankly, Windows Mobile is such a headache to use that, unless Microsoft gets some really fresh minds in the company, I don't see them being ABLE to compete with the iPhone. They just don't GET it.
At any rate, I'm expecting Android to shake everybody up - and I'm really looking forward to it. Windows Mobile will shrivel and die if you can get a much better alternative for free.
Nate @ Jan 15th 2008 12:24PM
It's a huge market, and it's getting bigger. If they don't launch an iPhone competitor, it's because they're hurting so much from the failure of the Zune to compete with the iPod.
Frankly, Windows Mobile is such a headache to use that, unless Microsoft gets some really fresh minds in the company, I don't see them being ABLE to compete with the iPhone. They just don't GET it.
At any rate, I'm expecting Android to shake everybody up - and I'm really looking forward to it. Windows Mobile will shrivel and die if you can get a much better alternative for free.
wow @ Jan 14th 2008 12:14AM
i agree with DT very very very few people have cell phones in fact i saw my first one one the other day. Boy was I happy. So i asked the gentleman who had it if i could use it to call home and make sure what kinda milk i needed to get chocolate or vanilla or whatever flavor the white one is. Boy did it ever feel so good to loose my cell virginity. I probably wont see one of those again for a long time i hope there will be a market for them some day.
rpa @ Jan 14th 2008 10:34AM
Where did you dig up that picture of a young Gates??
Juice @ Jan 14th 2008 2:19PM
Why "dead" man walking? Huh? The guy is a gazillionaire that's all I know.
People, the iPhone is not a "smartphone". Have you tried using the Calendar functions on it? Craptastic!
PynkFloydd @ Jan 16th 2008 5:54PM
I think that's the smartest move for Microsoft! They seem to focus more on business and the user's ability to customize and alter their products to their needs. At this point, with a few Windows Mobile updates and carriers like HTC running custom skins like the TouchFlow...why bother with the R&D for a new OS? I think they like being in the middle with business and entertainment functionality (found their place in the market?). An entertainment only phone (the iPhone is NOT business friendly) would just canabilize their rising MP3 player sales. I do wish they'd integrate the new ZunePad on a WM phone though. That's the most intuitive interface that I've used! (turns off input unless your actual finger is on it, wakes up the device when touched, X+Y axis movement, fast scrolling and an Enter function) Touchscreen + ZunePad + physical keyboard = awesome phone!
blade417 @ Jan 17th 2008 1:14PM
??
You know some cute vaginas??