Most would agree that the iPhone is probably the best phone in the world, maybe not for the business user, but it definitely made the most hype and has the largest fan base.
On the other hand, Windows Mobile is considered one of the worst operating systems for a mobile handset – up to the point that it is sometimes not even considered as a competitor in the smartphone market.
So how come last year in the last quarter, Windows Mobile handsets sold more than the iPhone?
Probably due to the success of HTC, and the number of different vendors that develop and sell Windows Mobile based handsets.
2009 is going to be very interesting. We will see a fight between platforms and “closed” phones: on one side of the ring we have iPhone, Palm Pre and Blackberry, on the other side Android and Windows Mobile.
Will an independent OS win due to the sheer amount of vendors or will the closed phones win due to slicker end products?
* I have decided to ignore Nokia and Symbian here – I don’t have an opinion about them just yet.
Exactly why Android is going to sweep the market.
1) Many vendors can develop and Sell
2) Open – can be used for Netbooks and sale points
Salomon
Salomon,
Both your points are valid.
I’d say that netbooks, sale points and other devices are irrelevant – the question I raise is around smartphones (otherwise, Windows Mobile/CE would have a lot more devices sold in its belt).
I’d ask – how do you relate to the fact that the iPhone is so great? When one company focuses on their single platform, they end up having a better product.
As Android runs the risk of getting fragmented due to vendors wanting to differentiate from each other, its stability and feature set might suffer. This may cause consumers to lose interest.
My experience with HTC is terrible. My wife got an HTC Pro and, after two days of usage, she returned it back to the operator and asked for a replacement (she got the BB Bold).
I tried it for a while and my feedback is: unusable, complex, slow, bad signal strength, bad audio quality. How can it cost as much as the Bold ???
Luca,
I have a colleague at work who purchased (out of his own money, abroad, trying to find someone to hand-carry it back for him) the HTC Touch HD. He LOVES it so much it’s scary.
We can’t seem to understand this behavior – especially since he does admit the phone crashes once in a while, and that the battery life is too short for a conference call.
I’m with you – I don’t want a shiny phone. I want a workhorse.
i am 3 years old and i hav the iphone itz best phone in whole wide world
nick,
It’s good to see that you find the iphone usable. I am sure my own daughter, who is just half your age will be happy with such a phone as well when she grows up to your age.
I don’t necessarily disagree w/your overall point, but how about some data backing up your “worst mobile OS in the world”, as opposed to linking to a one-off, ill-tempered rant from a ZDNet blogger who was apparently unable to locate the big green CALL button on the front of the Windows Mobile device he was using?
Pete,
It’s more than a one-off. Look at Luca’s comment on this post alone.
There are others out there who don’t like the WM interface – and I’m sorry I can’t bring any concrete data to back it up. I based this post on what I’ve read online along with my own world views.
Personally I think that the calling window is fine, but I’m not that happy with the rest of the interface. I tried once moving from a Nokia S60 phone (don’t remember the exact model) to a WM6 based phone, but went back after about a week – couldn’t get used to the clunkyness of the UI.
That said, others do like/love WM phones – a fellow PM here is in love with his HTC Touch HD phone.
Tsahi
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i think nokia n9 7 is an awsome phone