Microsoft Finally Cracks the Mobile Market
By Matthew Maier
business2.com
Putting to rest months of speculation, Motorola and Microsoft
just announced the first Windows-powered Motorola phone. Called
the MPx200, the new handset will be available starting next
month, thanks to partnerships with GSM-based carriers including
AT&T Wireless in the United States and Orange in Europe.
While the announcement is momentous for both players, it's of
paramount importance for Microsoft, which has peddled its mobile
operating systems for years with mixed results. Orange is the
only carrier currently selling a Microsoft smartphone device. But
with growing consumer interest in advanced phones that offer
PC-like features -- access to Outlook e-mail and word processing,
for example -- Microsoft sees its opportunity. Now Motorola is
helping Microsoft finally break into the A-list of phone
manufacturers. "This phone validates all of our work in the
smartphone space," says Vince Mendillo, Microsoft's director of
worldwide mobile product marketing.
The MPx200 was obviously built with the business user in mind.
Unlike many consumer-focused smartphones on the market, the
MPx200 does not include a built-in camera and won't support
Bluetooth -- although Michael Tatelman, head of Motorola's
MotoPro group, attributes the absence of Bluetooth compatibility
to the new phone's rush to market. The phone doesn't run
Microsoft's latest Smartphone 2003 operating system, but the
version included in the MPx200 has been refined to work smoothly
with Outlook, either via a PC connection or wirelessly with
Exchange Server. The MPx200 is a solid first showing for the two
partners: With its large color screen, video-playback capability
using Windows Media Player, and up to a gigabyte of secure
digital storage, the phone, which is expected to retail for about
$300, should prove popular with the business user.
Executives from both companies see the new phone as the first
step in what they hope will be a long and profitable
collaboration. "While we're excited about the MPx200, the bigger
point is that we've committed to a portfolio of Microsoft-based
products," Tatelman says. For Motorola, which recently sold its
shares in rival OS developer Symbian, the Microsoft deal provides
access to new distribution channels and a large application
developer community. And the arrangement gives Microsoft a route
into the phone market via the world's second-largest phone
manufacturer. With Motorola's global marketing and distribution
reach, the deal will help Microsoft realize its goal of extending
the office desktop into the mobile sector worldwide.
One big unknown is how the rest of the mobile industry will
react. To date, no other major phone manufacturer has publicly
expressed interest in working with Microsoft. Nokia, for its
part, has done just about everything in its power to keep Redmond
out of the cellular industry, including purchasing as much
control of Symbian as it legally can. Over the next several
months, we'll see whether Microsoft can use this foothold to
convert even more phone makers to its way of thinking. The
long-awaited Microsoft vs. Nokia battle may finally be under way. |
