Wireless-Equipment Makers Remain Hesitant On Selecting OS Software
Dow Jones Business News
NEW YORK -- Major telecommunications equipment manufacturers are adopting a wait-and-see approach as the designers of various operating systems battle for dominance in the hot wireless industry.
While some deals between phone equipment makers and software companies have been signed, many manufacturers are reluctant to tie themselves to a particular platform before they know what customers want.
Among the operating systems vying to bring fast Internet access to mobile handsets are the EPOC system first developed by Britain's Psion PLC, Microsoft Corp.'s (MSFT) Windows CE system, 3Com Inc.'s (COMS) Palm system as well as companies promoting versions of the operating system Linux.
"It is too early to say which of the systems will dominate," Jacques Combet, Alcatel SA's mobile phone division president, said from a technology fair in Germany.
This reticent attitude is typical of major independent equipment suppliers. Among those staying mum are Siemens AG, Alcatel (ALA) and Mitsubishi Electric Corp.
The world's largest mobile handset manufacturers Motorola Inc. (MOT), Sweden's Telefon AB LM Ericsson (ERICY), Japan's Matsushita Communication Industrial Co., and Nokia Corp. (NOK) have, with Psion, staked their position and are shareholders in Symbian, the company formed to promote and develop the EPOC system.
On Thursday, Microsoft and Sony Corp.'s (SNE) Sony-Digital Telecommunication Europe unit said Sony's CMD-Z5 global satellite mobile phone will be powered by Microsoft's Mobile Explorer software platform for Internet-enabled mobile phones.
Redmond, Wash.-based Microsoft also has a deal with Ericsson to develop e-mail software and a scaled-down Web browser, among other applications, for use in some of Ericsson's Internet-enabled mobile phones. Microsoft has been using that deal to forward its goal of becoming a major supplier of software for Internet-based cell phones, after being shut out of the Symbian deal.
The potential market for these wireless devices is huge, but so too is the cost, leading manufacturers such as Alcatel to proceed with caution.
Alcatel's Combet said the funds needed to invest in wireless information devices can be as much as $60 million and timing on the spending of that money is important.
Combet also believes that the technology isn't sufficiently advanced to build a device that will gain wide customer acceptance. Combining mobile phones and personal digital assistants using available technology would create an unwieldy device.
He said the company's immediate priority is to deploy the Bluetooth technology between its mobile handsets and 3Com's Palm devices.
The company believes the combination of these two devices meets consumer requirements for size and weight. Bluetooth is a technology which allows personal computers and other devices such as phones and headsets to communicate with each other without wires.
Alcatel's Mobile Phone Strategy Department Manager Jean-Louis Lievin said an announcement on which operating system the company will support is tied to the announcement on the products to be used on the next generation mobile phone networks.
"I do not think we will make any announcements in the first half of this year," he said.
Volker Jung, Siemens AG board member responsible for the information and communications division, said there has been no move in one direction for operating systems for mobile handsets, and Siemens doesn't have a preference.
"We don't want to commit ourselves yet," he said
Commenting on Siemens' use of Microsoft's system in some of its products he said: "It would be no problem at all to switch to another system."
The question is still open as to which one will become the standard.
Most executives were unwilling to go into the merits of the different operating systems, but Windows CE hasn't yet generated as much excitement as the other three. However, Microsoft can't be discounted, and has been aggressively targeting the Symbian partners.
3Com has in its favor the wild success of its Palm range while Symbian has some heavyweight manufacturers lining up behind it.
Mobile Linux, a little known outsider that has proved successful against Windows operating systems on PCs, is in its infancy. Furthermore, Linux-based concern Red Hat Inc. (RHAT) said that a marketable version for wireless devices is some time away.
Linux is an "open source" system available on the Internet which is constantly being refined and added to by developers all over the world.
(Compiled from Dow Jones Newswires and other sources)
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