09.27.09
Microsoft Kills Another Product and May Alienate Partners
Summary: Dynamics Mobile is officially dead and Microsoft decides to betray Windows Mobile partners by launching own phones
AT Microsoft, there are many dead products that keep being revealed (several per month for quite some time now). Here is the latest addition to this long list:
Microsoft on Thursday said it has discontinued the mobile versions of its Dynamics ERP (enterprise resource planning) products.
Here is some “damage control” from Microsoft at the Microsoft blog (added as an update).
“[When] Microsoft released Zune everyone stopped making CE based media players other than Microsoft.”
–OiaohmJust days ago, Steve Ballmer was quoted as saying that Windows Mobile is something Microsoft “screwed up with.” Microsoft seems to have decided to go it alone with phones and sell hardware, not just software. There are already leaked photos of rather ugly gadgets (Zune showed that Microsoft lacks style) which are said to be in the works and are reportedly months away.
“Think music players,” writes Oiaohm. “[When] Microsoft released Zune everyone stopped making CE-based media players other than Microsoft.”
Oiaohm says the same goes for the AV market, where Microsoft decided that it was worth betraying and agitating partners.
“Microsoft is imploding,” Oiaohm concludes. █
David Gerard said,
September 28, 2009 at 1:13 pm
Well, who makes Windows Mobile phones? HTC and … that’s about all. Who will be making the Zunephone for Microsoft? Probably HTC.
Roy Schestowitz Reply:
September 28th, 2009 at 2:18 pm
HTC has also begun Android phones.
David Gerard Reply:
September 28th, 2009 at 2:23 pm
Indeed. Bullying the Taiwan gadget makers will come back on them; they only bought themselves a little time.
Roy Schestowitz Reply:
September 28th, 2009 at 2:26 pm
“In our association we operate as a consortium, like the open source consortium. They want to promote open source and Linux. But if you begin from the PC you are afraid of Microsoft. They try to go to the smart phone or PDA to start again.”
–Li Chang, vice president of the Taipei Computer Association