Microsoft to Launch WP8 in China Soon
SHANGHAI, Nov 29, 2012 (Menafn - SinoCast Daily Business Beat via COMTEX) --Smartphones with the Windows Phone 8 operating system will debut on the Chinese mainland soon.
Ralph Haupter, chairman and CEO of Microsoft for the Greater China region, said in an interview recently that the Windows Phone 8 operating system would enter the market and mobile phone makers including Nokia and Samsung Electronics would launch terminals with the operating system in succession from next month. This was one of the most important markets for it around the globe and data from iiMedia Research showed that China saw its smartphone user size hit 290 million as at the end of June this year. Thus it speeded up the pace of product launch there.
The Windows Phone operating system has been laid far behind by both the Android operating system of Google and the iOS of Apple. According to the latest report by IDC, the shipment of smartphones with the Android operating system reached 136 million units in the third quarter of this year, with market share rising to 75 percent from 57.5 percent a year ago. That of those with the iOS hit 26.9 million units, with market share of 14.9 percent. The figure of those with the Windows Phone operating system was 3.6 million units, with market share inching up by 1.6 percentage points year on year to 3.6 percent.
In order to seize more share in the market, Microsoft has taken a list of moves and Zhang Yongli, vice president of it for the Greater China region, said that the Windows Phone 8 operating system stressed personalized user experience, thus a series of personalized applications were launched.
However, the number of mobile phone makers that reached an agreement with it over the operating system initially stands at only four and they are Nokia, HTC, Samsung Electronics and Huawei Technologies, each. And the number of smartphone models with the operating system they plan to launch is less than 10. Wen Tao, vice president of it for the Greater China region, disclosed that it cooperated with many OEM firms after launching the Windows Phone 7 operating system and some of them were quite small in size. In order to boost the Windows Phone 8 operating system, it made a decision to cooperate with the four large ones first. And as the platform boosted, more small- and medium-sized OEM firms would turn to it later.
Steven Anthony Ballmer, CEO of it, forecasted previously that 400 million terminals would adopt the Windows 8 or the Windows Phone 8 operating systems over the following 12 months.
(USD 1 = CNY 6.23)
Source: www.yicai.com (November 29, 2012)
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