Microsoft has lost the mobile device war, because its Windows 7 phones are “too little, too late”, says Gartner.
The international research company expects communication through mobile devices to continue growing, as handsets gather more social networking applications that people want.
However, the winners in the next few years will be devices made by iPhone, Symbian and Android, while Research In Motion, which makes the BlackBerry device, will lose market share, says Nick Jones, Gartner VP.
Microsoft, which is set to launch the Windows 7 phone before year-end, is behind the curve, says Jones. He explains that US software giant's mobile device is behind in application development, a key driver for mobile growth.
The company's application base for Windows Mobile 6.5, which launched last October, is not compatible with the upgrade, says Jones. He anticipates it would take the company at least two years to develop an app store to “anything approaching a half decent level”.
Moreover, says Jones, application developers are only keen to sell their products in stores that are already seeing demand, such as the Apple application centre. He adds it is too late for another company, such as Cisco, to enter the race as the market is already dominated by a handful of players.
Communication driver
Smartphones that can collaborate information will dominate developed markets by 2014, says Jones. In addition, prices are coming down, which will spur growth of smart mobile devices.
Gartner expects emerging markets to account for between 15% and 30% of all smartphones shipped in 2012, with the balance being sold in developed economies. By 2013, at least two smartphones will be shipped for every mobile PC, says Jones.
Jones says because worker mobility is increasing, CIOs will face the challenge of staff increasingly wanting their devices plugged into networks. This raises security issues, such as people downloading sensitive documents on a memory card in a mobile device and then sharing the information, he explains.
* Nicola Mawson is being hosted courtesy of Gartner.
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