Microsoft will use one version of its Windows Mobile operating system to combat Android sales, and another version against the iPhone, According to Digitimes.
The hare-brained two-tier strategy won’t roll out until October, when Microsoft unleashes WinMo 6.5 upon the uninterested public. If you’re waiting for touchscreen functionality, Microsoft will be there for you–in February of 2010, when a touch update will be available as an upgrade. Yes, 2010.
At the end of that year, it will roll out Windows Mobile 7, but instead of ceasing to sell version 6.5, it will simply cut its price and sell both: 6.5 to compete with Android, and 7 to compete with iPhone. Redmond apparently thinks that the only difference between Android buyers and iPhone buyers is their buying power. (Below, a Microsoft video showing OS 6.5 doing a lot of things that RIM, Android, and iPhone users have considered old news for about a year.)
As of fourth quarter 2008, Windows Mobile enjoyed about 12.4% market share worldwide, a slight edge over the iPhone (10.4%) according to Gartner. Android has less than 2% of the market.
