Apple Thoughts: iPhone Outsells Windows Mobile in Q3 2008

"The success of iPhone 3G sales in the third quarter of 2008 propelled the Mac OS X to the No. 3 position in the global OS provider rankings. For the first time, iPhone sales exceeded sales of Microsoft Windows Mobile devices worldwide and in North America. In the shorter term, open-source initiatives like Android and Symbian Foundation will challenge Windows Mobile's licensing model. In addition, the lack of a competitive user interface will continue to limit Microsoft's mobile device usability when facing competitive consumer smartphones."

The interesting part here isn't that Apple has started to take prominence in the market. I don't even find that one bit interesting or surprising. What I do find surprising, however, is that given the sheer volume of manufacturers and models of Windows Mobile handsets, Apple is still outselling them with, essentially, two phones (the original and the 3G).

A few months back, Don Reisinger had one of the Windows Mobile folks on his podcast, and in the podcast he laughed off the iPhone. He said it was a meaningless phone and a flash in the pan and then proceeded to say that it was unfair to compare Windows Mobile to the iPhone because Windows Mobile is an OS and is installed on many more phones than Apple's offering. In essence, the OS mattered, not the hardware. Now here we are a few months later, and Apple is now moving toward the top, and their phone is outselling Windows Mobile handsets (for now).

What a difference a few months makes, right?

Understand, I have no animice toward the Windows Mobile handset market. My first gig with Thoughts Media was writing for PocketPC Thoughts. I do think, however, that Microsoft really needs to get off their collective tushes and get Windows Mobile going again because as of right now, the competition they're dismissive of is starting to gain ground and quickly.