Windows Phone 7– the Android alternative for OEMs

We have seen the cellphone market shake out in a very interesting way in recent weeks, with both Sony Ericsson and Samsung stating they will be dropping development of devices based on the Symbian OS, which is in fact and open source operating system, and then also announcing their continuing commitment to Windows Phone 7.

It is well known that even Nokia, who accounts for the vast majority of Symbian sales, also do not see the OS as the future, being hard at work on its next-gen Meego operating system.

The implications of this for Windows phone 7 is very significant – it makes Windows phone 7 the only non-proprietary operating system besides Android available for OEMs to use, and provides Windows Phone 7 with a handy niche to grow out from.

This effectively also means that for any OEM that does not want to put all their eggs in the Android basket (which would always be unwise) Windows Phone 7 is really the only alternative as a counter to Google domination.

Of course the other alternative is developing or purchasing their own proprietary operating system, such as Samsung with Bada and HP with WebOS.  It is fair to say the success of these operating systems in the market still has to shake out, but it is also clear that these proprietary operating systems are expensive, does not benefit from economies of scale for developers, and leaves companies whose focus is only hardware in a race to keep up with software development with companies that are all about software.

I believe it is for these reasons we will continue to see companies who appear fully committed to Google’s Android surprising us by releasing Windows Phone 7 handsets, if only to provide to cheap bulwark to undue influence by Google.

Do our readers agree? Let us know below.