Microsoft volunteers to return to mobile gaming

Microsoft may need to make acquisitions to avoid further decadence in the smartphone market after it has ceded its position to Apple and other software giants. Just a few years ago, Microsoft (MSFT) looked like a real competitor to the mobile phone market. In 2004, its Windows Mobile operating system ran a smartphone that accounted for about a one-fourth of the total, and eroded its share of leading Nokia (NOK). At the World Mobile Communications Conference in Barcelona on February 15, Microsoft joined hands with its latest effort to return to the game area.　　Renaming the Windows Phone OS will "not push the mobile platform forward in a step-by-step manner," said Robert Bach, president of the company's entertainment and equipment division. Microsoft must be a player in the smartphone market. Internet users are accustomed to using personal computers, and Microsoft has a great advantage in migrating to mobile devices. Apple's Iphone,rim BlackBerry, along with other handsets, is becoming the first choice to read emails, check Facebook, or capture news. IDC, a research firm, predicts that smartphone shipments will increase by more than one times from 2009 to 2013, reaching 391.3 million units.　　Microsoft's new mobile software "will be different and need to convince their customers and partners that they will fundamentally change direction," said William Stofega, IDC analyst. New integrated Software Microsoft's new software has greatly improved, and has great advantages in word processing and sending spreadsheets from computers. It will also add to the company's Xbox consoles and Zune music players, so users can share music and video between Microsoft's devices. But this will not solve another challenge for the company, which is to attract customers to the company's image. Independent software developers who create new applications for mobile phones mostly ignore Microsoft's focus on the iphone and Google (GOOG) 's Android handsets. Developers have developed more than 140,000 of the iphone software sold through Apple's itunes. There are about 800 Microsoft's online mobile stores, but the company estimates that 20,000 apps will run on its mobile operating system.　　"They never really established the meaning of a brand," said Charles S. Golvin, analyst at Forrester Research Company (FORR). Some industry analysts say the company of Microsoft (Washington) will dramatically change direction. It can choose its own phone brand like Google, or gain the power to forge a strategic partnership with Nokia. Several analysts believe a major takeover should be made.　　"The logical thing for them to do is to make acquisitions," said Richard Dohert, a consultant for co-founder Envisioneering. The most affordable option isPalm, which now has a market capitalisation of 1.6 billion dollars. The Pre's manufacturer Sunnyvale and Pixi telephone manufacturers have been highly rated for their easy-to-use operating systems. Sources inside the company said Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer had said he was not interested.　　"Palm's brand equity is not as good as it used to be," says a Microsoft Mobile Project executive. Doherty, a potential deal with Rim, said: "Another possible target for Microsoft is rim, which has a stronghold that Microsoft Covets in the corporate marketplace." RIM's market capitalisation is now 38.5 billion dollars. On February 10, Broadpoint Amtech analyst Mark McKechnie's research report showed a potential rim deal figure and hinted that Microsoft could pay as much as $56 billion.　　It will be Microsoft's most expensive deal so far, and it's a lot more than two years ago that Yahoo offered 44 billion dollars, but ultimately failed. Nor does it guarantee that Microsoft will be able to make a deal with rim, or that it will not be able to work even if the deal is completed. RIM's management, which shares more than 11% per cent, has shown no inclination to sell. The deal is likely to face stringent regulatory scrutiny, particularly in Canada, where Rim is considered a national treasure.　　RIM spokeswoman Tenille Kennedy and Palm spokeswoman Lynn Fox declined to comment on the issue. Microsoft insiders, who have not been authorized to speak to the press, have said that the company is not considering RIM's takeover, according to the focus of its internal work. The company has started working with hardware partners, such as HTC and LG, to collaborate more closely to share engineering resources and better tailor its software for telephones. It also plans to reduce the number of hardware partners from 58 at the end of 2008 to between five or six and 12.　　"We want more control over the hardware to ensure that the overall experience is better," the source said. Microsoft looks like it was captured in a box, but analysts say don't underestimate its potential. "They have a lot of money and they have great engineering resources," said Alex Spektor, analyst at Strategy Analytics Consulting, "The game is not over yet." "Let's wait and see, look forward to a better platform for the birth of products to make consumers more satisfied with the product."