Microsoft Corp is expected to announce a major revamp of its phone software tomorrow in an attempt to regain momentum in a crucial market where it has been overshadowed.
CEO Steve Ballmer will be speaking at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, the world’s largest cellphone trade show, and analysts expect him to reveal Windows Mobile 7. The software could be in phones by late this year.
The new software comes as Microsoft, dominant when smartphones were young, has taken a back seat to Research in Motion Ltd’s BlackBerrys among corporate users and Apple Inc’s iPhone among consumers.
“They seem to have lost the world’s attention in smartphones,” said Dan Hays, who specializes in telecommunications at management consulting firm PRTM.
The new software is expected to be more consumer-focused than previous versions, with a simplified user interface, which could be borrowed in part from Microsoft’s well-reviewed — but low-selling — Zune HD media player.
“If that thing had a phone in it ... that would be a pretty darn good device,” said Charles Golvin, analyst with Forrester Research.
“But my own judgment is that this is kind of their last chance,” Golvin said. “If Windows Mobile doesn’t get it right this time around, they’re probably toast.”
Microsoft is famous, Golvin said, for sticking to its projects, version after version. However, developments in smart phones are coming so fast that tenacity alone won’t help. RIM and Apple are already squeezing Microsoft out, and in the last year, Google Inc has emerged as a major player with its Android software.
Microsoft has said it would not comment in advance of Monday’s event.
Windows phones accounted for 9 percent of smart phones sold worldwide last year, research firm In-Stat shows. That was down from 13.2 percent in 2008.
Much is at stake in the battle for smartphone dominance. Phones steer their users to potentially lucrative Web services and ads.
Software developers write their applications first for the largest base of phones, making those phones even more attractive.
As it’s trying to regain its footing, Microsoft also finds itself in the odd position of charging for something that others give away.
Both Android and Symbian, used on Nokia’s smartphones, are free for any manufacturer to use and modify as they see fit. Both Google and Nokia hope this will spur adoption and steer phone users to their services.
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