| Microsoft spins record Windows Mobile sales |
Jul. 31, 2008
 Microsoft sold more than 18 million copies of its Windows Mobile operating system for phones and other mobile devices in 2008, it announced, a new annual record. Additionally, the number of Windows Mobile applications topped 18,000.
Overall, the mobile device operating system had "yet another year of high growth, closing out the 2008 fiscal year by nearly doubling the overall expansion of the market," a company statement said. Growth came fastest in France, Latin America, Japan, India, and Central and Eastern Europe, all of which saw "triple digit" growth -- presumably meaning shipment growth of 100 percent or better.
Additionally, Windows Mobile phones outsold Apple's early iPhone models in both consumer and enterprise markets, according to IDC figures cited by Microsoft. By 2012, Microsoft hopes Windows Mobile will have nearly nine times more enterprise deployments than the iPhone, and double the sales in consumer markets, it said.
Also cited was Windows Mobile's complement of "more than 18,000 applications, giving people the choice and flexibility they demand." Recently-added applications from Bloomberg, Reuters, and SAP were listed as examples.
Good as the news for Windows Mobile is, sales are apparently lagging behind Microsoft's expectations. During the past few months, company executives -- including Robbie Bach, president of the company's entertainment and devices division, and Eddie Wu, managing director of OEM embedded devices Asia -- made widely reported predictions that Windows Mobile sales would top 20 million units during the 2007/2008 fiscal year.
In an interview yesterday with the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Andy Lees, senior vice president of Microsoft's Mobile Communications Business, reportedly said the two million-unit shortfall -- "less than about a month's worth of a run-rate" -- was due to some OEMs shipping their Windows Mobile 6.1 devices later than expected. Naming the companies involved would be unfair, he is quoted as saying, adding that "Windows Mobile is well-poised for the future."
According to Microsoft, Windows Mobile continued to strengthen its position in the enterprise market, with 363 "lighthouse" wins, defined as sales of more than 500 devices at a time. Such wins accounted for more than 1.4 million total licenses, Microsoft says. And, of 500 lighthouse wins, 91 were "competitive," meaning that the companies involved switched away from using RIM's BlackBerry Enterprise Server, the company says.
Further information
To read more about the Post-Intelligencer's interview with Andy Lees, see reporter Todd Bishop's Microsoft blog, here.
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