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PalmOne could hand US mobile enterprise to Microsoft with Windows Treo
By mobile | September 12, 2007
PalmOne is looking to launch its first Treo smartphone using a non-Palm upcrating system, with its eyes mainly on Windows Mobile. Though a small force in the overall handset market, Palmone is strong in the business sector, and a choice of Windows would significantly boost microsoft’s ambitions to dominate the mobile enterprise.
PalmOne has not yet confirmed the many reports of its Windows plans, which were revealed in a research note from investment bank Needham & Company. However, it has been openly saying, since it was separated from its software arm PalmSource last year, that it would consider other systems. It claims to test every new PDA or smartphone model against different operating systems in order to decide on the best option, rather than defaulting to its own former technology. Indeed, the freedom to adopt a new OS is critical to PalmOne. Although PalmSource has made strong moves, notably with enhanced Java support and relationships with middleware vendors such as BEA, to make its platform attractive to the enterprise market, its resources and brand presence are dwarfed by those of Windows and Symbian OS, especially as the Windows-based PDAs such as the Hewlett Packard iPaq overtake the Palm hardware devices in many former heartlands.
In companies that prefer an all-Windows strategy and close integration between mobiles and desktops, the combination of the popular Treo 600–and the forthcoming, much anticipated Treo 650–and the Microsoft OS could be a powerful one. For the mass smartphone market, Symbian OS would be a better long term choice, but for the business market, especially in the US where Symbian has made smaller inroads, Windows is the most likely–and could help hand the US mobile enterprise market to Microsoft.
The seeds were sown last month when PalmOne licensed a version of the Microsoft Exchange email server for use with Treo 650, signalling a truce between the former fierce rivals. Also, Handspring, the creator of the Treo, had been planning a Microsoft device before it was acquired by PalmOne.
The fact is, once separated from PalmSource, PalmOne was on a road where it would have to adopt the OS of least resistance, gaining market share and lowering R&D and marketing costs rather than clinging to its own once prized system. PalmOs has various advantages derived from being specifically designed for a handheld platform, such as low footprint, a simple user interface and high efficiency, but all weighs little in the scale against the market power of a Microsoft or a Nokia.
Without its largest customer’s full commitment, the future for PalmSource could be bleak, especially as its second client, Sony, pulled out of the non-Asian PDA markets. PalmOne currently pays PalmSource a per-unit royally, with a minimum of $40m a year until 2006.
While we would not expect a Windows Treo to make a major impact on the future of the overall handset market, it would certainly be an important win for Microsoft in the only sector where Windows Mobile has a real chance of dominating, the Microsoft or mixed-platform enterprise.
The Palm OS was used in 51.7% of handhelds (wireless and standalone) shipped worldwide in 2003, while Windows was in 38.3%. IDC predicts that Microsoft should take over the top spot at the end of this year, with 45.9% of the market, compared with 45.1% for Palm OS.
Of course, before we get carried away with OS wars, it is worth noting a new piece of research from TNS Infratest, which found that 50% of people considering buying a smartphone are “completely indifferent” to its operating system. The survey covered Germany, which is 25% of the European cellphone market.
Topics: Mobile Cellphone |
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