By Kim Yoo-chul
Staff Reporter
A U.S. software giant Microsoft has been struggling over the freefall of its Windows mobile operating system hit by a ``monstrous’’ jump in demand for open-based Android-equipped ``smart’’ phones.
Major handset vendors such as Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics are planning to hike the portion of contents-featured Google-powered phones in 2010 attracted by such skyrocketing consumer interests.
Unlike Windows Mobile, the platform developed by a massive cross-industry alliance led by Internet giant Google, is based on open source Linux software and enables greater flexibility for programmers building applications and features tailored to handsets.
``Android-backed handsets will account for 50 percent of LG Electronics’ smartphone lineup by the end of this year and the remainder will go into with other platforms,’’ Nam Yong, CEO of the world’s No. 3 handset maker said on the sidelines of the International Consumer Electronics Show (ICES) in the U.S. desert city of Las Vegas.
Nam said operating system itself doesn’t necessarily guarantee the competitiveness of mobile contents as contents development and easier accessibility from general consumers are ``more important.’’
``For the time being, riding on contents provided by Google would be the right answer to secure an competitive edge,’’ the top company executive added.
The runner-up of Nokia in the handset industry Samsung, which is planning to sell 20 million units of smartphones in 2010, has also been set to increase the portion of Android-equipped phones by over 30 percent due to greater consumer preferences for the gadgets, Samsung officials say.
Samsung has been known to drop the stakes of the Windows Mobile-launched devices by 50 percent in 2010 ― a drop from 80 percent in 2009.
In South Korea, the world’s most wired country and the crucial spot for Microsoft, the nation’s top mobile carrier SK Telecom plans to introduce 12 models of smartphones next month ― all of them are Android-equipped operating system.
``This puts a lot of pressure on Microsoft. Windows Mobile has to worry about Android’s numbers,’’ Ha Joon-du, an analyst at Shinhan Financial, a local brokerage, said.
``More drastic measures will be needed for Microsoft in coming months if it wants to revive its sagging fortunes in the mobile operating arena,’’ he said.
Ha added Google’s first ``own-brand’’ Nexus One smartphone, which runs its latest version of 2.1 Android software, is expected to have a bumpy ride for a while, however, predicted the changes will maintain a steady momentum.
According to the recent report released by a market research firm Gartner, Windows Mobile’s market share fell to 7.9 percent in the third quarter of 2009 ― down from 11.1 percent the same quarter of last year.
A latest survey conducted by another research firm ― ChangeWave Research ― showed that interest in Android had risen by 15 percent in the past three months, making it the second most popular operating system just behind the iPhone.
Of the people who told the firm in a mid-December survey that they planned to buy a smartphone in the next 90 days, 21 percent said they expected to purchase a handset powered by Google’s Android operating system.
``That number represented a 250 percent increase over the 6 percent that pegged Android as their mobile operating system of choice when ChangeWave last queried consumers’ plans in September,’’ it said, adding that the sudden surge in consumer interest in Android had ``roiled’’ the market.
According to IDC’s research, Android is the sixth-most popular platform in the Asia-Pacific region, with just 1 percent market share last year, compared to the iPhone’s third place with 5 percent.
But by 2013, the Android is expected to have 8 percent of market share, moving to third place, behind only Symbian and Windows Mobile.
To partly calm down such challenges to its dominant position in computer software, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said the company will closely work with its bigger clients to put more features of its upcoming Windows Mobile systems.
MS is also expected to release a new operating system for smartphones later this year.
When contacted by The Korea Times over the launching timing of the Windows Mobile 7 operating system, a spokeswoman for Microsoft Korea said; ``Nothing has been decided yet.’’
Analysts say the upcoming upgraded version would make it possible to install advanced programs for PCs to Windows Mobile.
They say the coming new operating system is being targeted at Android and will reportedly get both a revamped touch-screen interface as well as a lower price to lure phone designers that would otherwise pick an often free or low-cost Android license instead.
``More specifications will be put,’’ a high-ranking industry source said, referring to fast processors, high resolution screens, multi-touch and other key smartphone features.