Microsoft's standardised handsets will win the day, says Gartner

Symbian will lose smartphone battle
By Rob Jones at Gartner Symposium ITxpo, Cannes [07-11-2003]
Microsoft’s standardised handsets will win the day, says Gartner

Analyst Gartner has warned that, without a concerted effort by Symbian and its backers, Microsoft will sweep them aside in the smartphone business.

Redmond’s ability to offer standardised handsets which are easier for businesses to support and use will help the software giant win corporate approval, the market watcher predicted.

The analyst predicted that Microsoft will ship a phone boasting strong integration of a range of packages, such as Exchange and Outlook.

Symbian, he added, needed to resolve a number of issues to be a credible, corporate alternative. Its platform and menus differ slightly on various handsets, which means that they often do not have the same user interface.

So spoke Nick Jones, vice president and research fellow at Gartner in 2003.