In the early days of the personal computers, manufactures like IBM supplied operating system software as part of the bundle to run the computer. To the average consumer, software was something that you added to make your personal computer do something specific. And even the software that you loaded was shared freely within the techie community. This was also the time when programmers were a set of benevolent techies who wrote code for code sake.
It was not till the advent of Microsoft and DOS that people began to get acquainted with the thought of having to pay money for software. Software was no longer something that came free, but was often as expensive as or more expensive than the hardware it ran on.
A concept which at first was ludicrous to most computer owners soon became a way of life. More and more businesses and home users were willing to spend money on computer software that could be bought off the shelf and that worked on their computer. In today’s world, the software you are using to read this could probably cost more than the value of the computer you are reading this on. This shift started around the late 1980s and took a little under 5 years to become a reality. That’s how quickly markets change.
Fast forward to 2007 and we are on the verge of a similar shift in the mobile phone market. Until today, you and I were used to having the likes of Samsung, Nokia and LG sell us a phone with software loaded on it. However with the advent of phones from manufacturers like HTC, O2 and Dopod which run on Windows Mobile, the distinction between the phone vendor and the software vendor has begun.
For phone hardware manufacturers its time to take a punt. If they begin to support Windows Mobile aggressively there will be little differentiation between hardware manufacturers and hence to the consumer, the experience of using an LG or a Samsung or a Motorola would be close to identical.
If however they chose not to support Windows Mobile, they lose out on a significant consumer base which looks to buy a business phone that integrates well with their office computers and networks.
Both models have been tried in the past, one more effectively than the other.
While IBM began to support DOS, so did other computer manufacturers. Thus there was little to chose from between various brands of PCs that supported DOS. Fifteen odd years later IBM sold off its PC business to a low cost manufacturer like Lenovo.
Apple Inc however went its own way and continued to sell its computers with Mac OS (a proprietary software) and thus carved a niche for itself as a high end computer manufacturer. Apple used innovative product design, performance and branding to ensure continued consumer interest. However, it still had a very small market share in the home computer business.
The way I see it, this problem will continue to plague most mobile phone companies over the next few years. Nokia has already publicly declared that it would be looking at restructuring in line with a strategy to focus around software and content. But has the rest of the industry responded effectively to the market change…. Only time will tell.
