Microsoft (MSFT) believes, almost certainly, that the future of its operating software and search business is as much if not more on wireless portable devices as it is on the PC where the market share wars are mature.
Microsoft could not find any better partner than Nokia (NOK) for advancing its efforts to expand into the handset market. The cell phone firm has a 39% share of the global wireless device business nearly twice that of its nearest competitor.
Based on a report from CNET, “With the next version of Office, Microsoft is trying to expand its desktop hold on the productivity market into one that spans the PC, Web, and phone, and this deal is seen as a significant move in that last category.”
One billion handsets are sold worldwide each year. Only a small portion of those are sophisticated smart phones which have substantial computing capacity but that portion of the market is growing faster than the cellphone market at large.
Microsoft has over 90% of the PC OS market. It cannot afford to lose that huge advantage as more and more people use handsets as miniature PCs. The Nokia deal take Redmond at fairly long way toward its goal.
Douglas A. McIntyre
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