| ODM plans line of Windows CE feature phones |
Jun. 12, 2006
Taiwanese ODM (original design manufacturer) Wistron has become the first licensee for Intrinsyc Software's Soleus software platform, a Windows CE-based OS and application stack for mid-tier mobile phones. Wistron will use Soleus to develop a line of "market-driven, feature-rich phones" for multiple mobile phone manufacturers and network operators, the companies announced on June 12.
Intrinsyc describes Soleus as "a turnkey software solution based on Windows CE that offers a new way to develop mobile phones." According to Intrinsyc, Soleus offers a lower-cost and more flexible software platform for "feature phones" and other mid-tier mobile handsets, a high-volume opportunity that is unserved by Microsoft's Windows Mobile OS, which focuses on higher-end Smartphones.
Feature phones will become the largest category of mobile phones sold by 2010, according to Strategy Analytics (see chart, here), representing a fierce battleground between embedded Windows and Linux alternatives. While Windows Mobile is the preferred Microsoft platform for high-end mobile handsets, Intrinsyc's Soleus platform offers a means for Microsoft's Windows CE OS -- which forms the core of Windows Mobile -- to increase its share of the enormous mobile phone space, by using it to target the lower-end, cost-sensitive and highly-differentiated feature phone segment.
Intrinsyc released a beta of Soleus last November, and showcased the first public demonstrations of the platform at CES in January of this year. In February, the company announced the first full release of Soleus at 3GSM, and also tipped plans to collaborate with Wistron on Soleus-based feature phones that are more powerful than simple handsets, but more affordable than high-end smartphones.
Eric Huang, General Manager of Wistron's Handheld Product Business Unit, stated, "The design flexibility and low cost benefits that Soleus offers allow us to rapidly develop the tailor-made mobile phones that our customers require."
This is not the first time a manufacturer has built a mobile phone running Windows CE, but past efforts have been few and far between. Vodaphone gave it a try using Bsquare's "Power Handheld" platform in 2003. In 2004, Motorola came out with the CN620 mobile phone running Windows CE 4.2. Additionally, Calypso and RV Tec last year announced WiFi-enabled VOIP phones running Windows CE 5.0.
"Manufacturers such as Wistron want a high-level OS that can be used across multiple handsets. With Soleus, manufacturers now have a viable platform alternative to Symbian OS and Linux," said Neil Strother, research director for mobile devices for The NPD Group, an independent trade industry analyst.
When Soleus-based phones developed by Wistron are sold into the market, Intrinsyc will earn licensing revenue on a fee-per-handset basis, Intrinsyc said.
Intrinsyc and Wistron are betting the time and technology are now right for Windows CE-based phones to become truly successful in the feature phone marketplace.
Taiwanese ODM High Tech Computers (HTC), meanwhile, currently supplies a broad range of Windows Mobile-based Smartphones and Pocket PC Phones to numerous phone manufacturers and wireless operators. The company is widely estimated to build 80 percent of the Windows Mobile phones being sold today.
For further details on Soleus, refer to our earlier coverage of the release of Soleus in February:
Windows CE zeroes in on feature phones
Related stories:
(Click here for further information)
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