DamnTastic on 31 December 2013
Damned! I was about to post this :P
anyways, here is some additional information from http://seekingalpha.com
- The Information reports Sony (SNE -0.1%), which (like many OEMs) has focused its smartphone efforts on building Android hardware, is thinking of launching a Windows Phone (MSFT +0.1%) as soon as mid-2014.
- The site also reports Microsoft, hungry to expand Windows Phone's OEM support, is "making new moves" to win over ZTE (ZTCOY) and other vendors, such as slashing licensing fees. The Verge reported three weeks ago Microsoft is thinking of offering Windows Phone and RT for free, and monetizing the platforms via ads/services.
- Microsoft's pending acquisition of Nokia's phone business has fueled concerns third parties will now be reluctant to license WP, particularly since Nokia is the market's dominant player. AdDuplex just estimated Nokia hardware accounts for 92.1% of the WP installed base. But OEM concerns about becoming too dependent on Google could leave Microsoft with an opening.
- Though IDC estimates WP only had a 3.6% Q3 global smartphone unit share, Kantar Worldpanel believes the OS is faring much better in Europe, assigning it a double-digit share within the EU5. That might be of interest to Sony, whose smartphone ops depend heavily on European and Japanese sales.
