Apple is threatening to change the rules of the mobile handset game. "Microsoft's overwhelmingly dominant position in the desktop OS market has let it go ahead with proprietary systems and formats time and time again," Blackfriars analyst Aric Winton wrote, "keeping users locked in without being too obvious about it." The HP ProLiant DL360 G5 server pinpoints problems earlier with Systems Insight Manager software -- and Integrated Lights-Out Management lets you manage multiple operating systems remotely.
has reason to fear the iPhone, both for its sales potential and its disruption of Microsoft's traditional business model of proprietary protocols and customer lock-in, a Blackfriars Marketing analyst wrote Monday. It all started when Steve Ballmer was interviewed by CNBC right after Macworld about the Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) Among Ballmer's many defenses was the fact that on Jan. 17, Microsoft was selling "millions and millions of phones per year, and Apple is selling zero phones a year.
" By the Numbers Looking at the actual numbers, Blackfriars points out that Microsoft "sold about 4 million cell phones running Windows Mobile (any version) in 2006. That figure is up from 2 million in 2005. Thanks to people buying newer models replacing their existing ones, it's fairly safe to say that there are only, in total, no more than 7 million Windows Mobile phones in the world.
" That was compared to Apple's stated goal of selling 10 million phones before the end of 2008. However, the real "kicker," according to the analysis, is what the iPhone attacks: The cell phone industry at large. Carriers and handset makers.
Breaking the Bonds Apple is threatening, with a new platform, to change the rules of the game. Aric Winton wrote, "Microsoft's overwhelmingly dominant position in the desktop OS market has let it go ahead with proprietary systems and formats time and time again, keeping users locked in without being too obvious about it. And time and time again, Apple has had to fight them -- both for its own survival, as well as the benefit of the user.
" Apple is turning the tables now, based on its newfound strength as a company. The same holds for Flash, a proprietary video format not supported on the iPhone. Next: the World Apple could exceed expectations as it moves iPhone distribution into Europe and then a more global release.
Suddenly, Microsoft's whole way of business will be threatened by a tide of iPhone sales that swamps Windows Mobile, and Microsoft will have to work hard to meet the threat. Apple is threatening to change the rules of the mobile handset game.
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