Can Mango save MS from being mobile nonentity?

By Yoon Ja-young

Microsoft (MS) recently launched Mango, the latest version of its mobile operating system Windows Phone 7, and it is expected to debut in Korea in the latter half of the year.

The market is watching whether it will provide MS with a chance to catch up with its rivals in mobile operating systems.

MS launched Windows Phone 7 in 17 countries in November, selling 2 million in two months. It has performed below expectations.

Now, it has come up with Mango, an upgraded version. It supports 16 more languages than before, including Korean, and added eight more countries, including Korea, to the list for its app storen Market Place.

It boasts of better multitasking and speed. Users can play games while receiving calls or surfing the Web.

Mango strengthened the social networking feature, and users can integrate several e-mail accounts for convenient management.

It also diversified partner manufacturers. Various smartphone models by not only Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics, but also by Acer, Fujitsu and ZTE will be available in the local market.

MS, the absolute power in computer operating systems, missed its chance in the mobile sector. Some are still betting on the company’s power, and expect it to catch up with its rivals with Windows Phone 7.

Gartner, a market research institute, expects Windows Phone 7 to take 19.5 percent of the operating system market in 2015, surpassing Apple’s iOS.

But it is still doubtful whether MS will catch up with Apple and Google.

The Windows Phone took 2.9 percent of the market as of the first quarter, falling to half of the previous year.

The small share is discouraging developers from working on applications, which makes MS suffer a chronic problem — a lack of applications. The company is preparing a guide for developers so that they can transform iPhone applications into those for Windows Phone7, but this remains to be seen.

It is also doubtful whether MS’ dominance in desktops would continue in the mobile market. To maximize synergetic effect, MS set its Internet Explorer 9 browser on Mango as a default. “The first in advantage works in mobile operating system market as well. MS missed the chance,” an analyst said.

Moreover, local handset manufacturers such as Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics are still putting more weight on Android phones.

The continuous consumer complaints over the Omnia handset, Samsung’s smartphone based on Windows Mobile, the predecessor of Windows Phone 7, is adding to the negative outlook here.

Samsung and SK Telecom, the country’s top mobile carrier, adopted the operating system for Omnia in 2008 to compete with Apple’s iPhone supplied by number-two carrier KT at that time, but the unstable operating system left Samsung with little room to improve the phone.

Omnia users remain a headache for Samsung, as they are requesting compensation.