Intel have announced that they’re joining up with Nokia and Symbian to develop next-generation handsets based on Nokia’s popular Series 60 platform and to create a reference platform for forthcoming 3G handsets.
This is a very important announcement, particularly in the context of Intel’s historical powerful alliance with Microsoft. More so, as this alliance has extended into Microsoft’s Smartphones.
This move isn’t like a gambler not backing the favourite horse, but clearly indicates that the mobile arena is more than a one horse race. And since Symbian currently have 66% share of the market, if Intel doesn’t want to be left out of the mobile arena, it needs to be there.
The sands of change are shifting under Redmond and the desk top PC. Web 2.0 is actually going to be Mobile 2.0 and Microsoft are in danger of going the way of their many competitors unless they wake up to the strategic changes that are taking place.
Mobile 2.0 is going to happen for two reasons.
In the West, people want the convenience of being able to carry their digital lives and communication device around with them. Solution: A device, like a mobile phone that can be docked to accomplish more intensive work, like document creation.
In the developing world, there’s a huge pent up demand for affordable computing. This is where the next real volume market for computing lies – a billion or so machines – who knows? This power is best delivered by a device more akin to a mobile than a desk top PC – mainly due to cost.
Both scenarios indicate that the old concept of a networked computer (or actually, networked mobile device) is about to make a come back. So unless you’re geared up to service this new market, by being a major player in the mobile phone business, you’re in big trouble.
So until Microsoft put mobile at the heart of their strategy (in the same way as they did with the web – just in time), they are in clear and present danger – and I don’t think that’s over-estimating the situation.
The world of technology can change amazingly quickly and quite catastrophically for the wrong-footed player. Or as Bill Gates quipped yesterday “Microsoft has had competitors in the past…….It’s a good thing we have museums to document that.” I hope that remark doesn’t come back to haunt him.
Source: Yahoo News via Wireless Newsfactor.
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