Microsoft on iPhone: Bach Balks at Big Numbers
Microsoft’s Xbox King, Lord of Zune, and Master of All Things Windows Mobile (i.e. basically in charge of everything but the revenue generating OS and Office franchises… ouch!) decided to comment on the huge iPhone numbers Apple released last Tuesday. Marc Flores over at BGR reports (via BusinessWeek):
“Apple had a big launch of a new product, and they launched at scale in a lot of new countries with a lot of new [wireless] operators. This quarter, RIMM is having its big launch, and at some point we’ll have our big launch. We’ll have to see where things normalize”
Now, we don’t necessarily disagree that there was pent-up demand for a 3G iPhone in existing markets, and introduction of many new markets, along with the honeymoon period many new gadgets from a player of Apple’s caliber enjoys, but…
How about we get some good news round Microsoft Entertainment and Mobile Way, rather than Xbox write-offs, Zune lack-tion, and continued Windows Mobile 7 push backs, before we spend our expensive executive time stepping to Apple, b’okay?
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What’s a Zune?
It’s between the months of Zay and Zuly.
thanks Rick.. was a little confused for a moment there.
‘We’ll have a big launch too’? Uh, yeah right. I do not see too many people buying phones because they have a WinMo OS. In fact, most phone manufacturers look to bury the OS and build their own software on top to make it look more appealing in a market that is demanding a better user experience.
WinMo will have their launch but I don’t see it becoming an event like an iPhone launch, what T-Mo did with Android or even the non-release that Nokia did with their touch screen device. People will be looking forward to the WinMo like they are about Palm’s upcoming Nova (No Go in Spanish, apparently nobody at Palm went to B-School and saw the case studies on Chevy) which is nill because they don’t have any customers left.
My comments are not intended to be snide. The fact of the matter is that while Mr. Softie is working hard on WinMo, the competition has caught up and surpassed them. OSX, Android, Blackberry OS, Mobile Linux/Symbian and Palm OS2/No Go/Nova either are in phones on the market or on the way. MS had better come up with something truly special, not their traditional strong suit, otherwise they’ll be demoted to the bargain basement phones which might suit them well – cheap phones, but volume, leaving the others for aspirational products.
The Zune (specifically the Zune 16) is the device that forced Apple into a last minute decision to make/price their new nanos at 16GB for $200 and 8GB for $150 instead of staying with 8GB for $200 and 4GB for $150 for yet another year. So even if you’ve never seen a Zune, if you’re an iPod fan you should be thankful of their existence. Competition is good. Now if they would only bring more to the mobile phone arena and keep Apple on its toes, I would be a happy camper.
@dyvim: I’m pretty sure he was kidding. I’m not saying microsoft sucks, but Apple is better. Just a little higher priced because of it’s better hardware.
What’s microsoft supposed to do, say, “Hey wow, Apple rocks! Go Apple! The iPhone is awesome!”?
M$oft should fix their many issues with their desktop os before working on a phone platform. Otherwise, they will have a bunch of shitty stuff and nothing that just works.
Surprisingly, the xbox is thier most stable product. However, it is also thier least productive product. Playing games doesn’t make me money or make my life easier.
I’ve noticed a huge drop in sales of Windows Mobile devices since the iPhone launch here in Australia. HTC seem to be the biggest losers.
heartily agree with thekevin monster.