James Delahunty
10 Jan 2008 18:46
In an interview with Germany's Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Microsoft Corp. chairman Bill Gates said the company will not launch a mobile phone product to compete directly with Apple's iPhone. The iPhone was released mid-2007 and was a big hit with consumers. Of course, it has long been speculated that Microsoft would make something to compete with the iPhone and Apple.
"No, we won't do that. In the so-called smart phone business we will concentrate solely on software with our Windows Mobile program," Gates said. "We have partnerships with a lot of device manufacturers from Samsung to Motorola and this variety brings us significantly more than if we would make our own mobile phone."
Microsoft already competes with Apple's iPod products by selling its Zune MP3 players. While the latest update to the Zune models has been seen by many as the best threat to the iPod so far, Apple remains far ahead in the market and isn't showing signs of budging.
Source:
Yahoo (Reuters)