11/12/2008, 10:20am, EST
Wednesday, November 12thMS/Verizon deal to discount Windows Mobile?
Microsoft is launching a two-pronged effort on Verizon to both lead the company's mobile searches but also its smartphone operating systems, say sources for the Wall Street Journal. In addition to an attempt to usurp Google's position as the default search engine and ad partner with a deal that would double Google's payout to between $550 million and $650 million, the Redmond, Washington developer is also said to be offering a financial incentive for Verizon to use more Windows Mobile devices.
Details of this latter deal are vague, according to the newspaper, though it believes the combination of the search and smartphone deals combined would top $1 billion. The Windows Mobile agreement is most likely to either involve a direct cash incentive from Microsoft to use its phone operating system or else steep discounts on licenses to use the software.
Negotiations are described as still being "fluid" and don't necessarily guarantee a deal, the alleged sources note.
Both deals reflect pressure on Microsoft from competitors that have otherwise successfully damaged its influence in key markets. The company has long been determined to undermine Google in online search and advertising but has had little success on the desktop, where Google continues to dominate and Microsoft's failed attempt to buy Yahoo has left it without more than a small stake on the web.
Windows Mobile has also shown signs of losing favor as a smartphone operating system. The platform missed yearly sales targets in mid-year and has been substantially outsold in the US and some other territories by newer competing smartphone software. The iPhone 3G and BlackBerry Curve have not only been the most popular smartphones in the country but are now considered the best-selling overall while Windows Mobile has failed to gain a high rank in either category.
Filed under: iPhone, industry, mobile phones
Other story tags: Microsoft, Google, BlackBerry, Verizon, Windows Mobile
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Perfect combo
What a perfect combination of partners - Verizon, the champion of crippling hardware, and Microsoft, king of the hill for mediocre interfaces and technology to keep customers in line.
It reminds me of when Prodigy was formed. It combined the computer expertise of Sears with the marketing expertise of IBM.
it's funny!
How this is coming together while everyone bitches about how AT&T and Apple have a "deal".
And yet no one is complaining about the M$/ Verizon Deal.
I know it's not exactly the same but why isn't M$ talking to all other Service Providers that they shell out WinMo to?
Ballmer spending spree
Google indeed has affected Ballmer and company with mobile search and Android. Microsoft may be forces to give away more and more just to stay relevant. I feel bad for the poor users trying to actually find anything with MS search!
fat lot of good...
Fat lot of good it'll do when Verizon's customers will vote with their dollars for Android handsets, and will go out of their way to search with Google. MS seems to be stuck in the mentality of catering to OEMs/carriers rather than make their products appealing to end users and working back from there. It's great to see them getting their asses handed to them in the mobile space, where the almighty consumer is king, and MS's PC hegemony is of no help to them.
Bummer
And here I was hoping for the other definition of the word "discount" in the title of the article. As in "to dismiss" Windows Mobile. Oh well, wishful thinking.
It's kind of sad really that MS has to resort to bribing companies to use their products. As long as it's not an exclusive deal and Verizon is allowed to sell alternatives, no problem. Take MS's money while your customers buy the better options.
Re: Its funny
How this is coming together while everyone bitches about how AT&T and Apple have a "deal".
And yet no one is complaining about the M$/ Verizon Deal.
I know it's not exactly the same but why isn't M$ talking to all other Service Providers that they shell out WinMo to?
Probably because it is NOTHING like the Apple/ATT deal. ATT has a sole provider license to Apple's iPhone (and OS). You want a phone using the iPhone OS, you need an iPhone, and you need to get it from ATT.
MS and Verizon are working a marketing deal. But it in no way limits Win Mobile to Verizon, nor limits Verizon from offering, say, Blackberries (not that ATT is limited from the Blackberries, either).
Therefore, there is NO comparison, and, thus, no reason for someone to get upset.
Add to that the fact that no one here (mostly Apple lovers/MS haters) would have any care for Win Mobile, and a good hunk of people here already detest Verizon (even more than those that detest ATT or any other provider).
So no one here would be upset, would they?