Microsoft: Expect 30 WinMo 6.5 Phones By End Of 2009

Microsoft has high hopes for its forthcoming Windows Mobile 6.5 platform. According to remarks made by a Microsoft executive, so are handset makers and network operators, as more than 30 devices running Windows Mobile 6.5 are primed to hit the market by the end of 2009.Wow, that's a lot of Windows Mobile smartphones. The remarks come from Benjamin Tan, senior director, GCR Mobile Team Unit at Microsoft China, and were reported by DigiTimes. Tan indicated that more than 30 handsets are in the works from 15 different handset makers.

Microsoft has announced that Windows Mobile 6.5 will be available starting on October 6. HTC has already pledged that it will offer new devices running WinMo 6.5 at that time. Other handset makers who have publicly committed to WIndows Mobile 6.5 include Acer, Samsung, LG, Sony Ericsson, Toshiba, and Hewlett-Packard.

Handset makers aren't the only ones banking on Windows Mobile. A number of wireless network operators around the world plan to sell those devices, including AT&T, Sprint Nextel, Verizon Wireless, Orange, T-Mobile, Vodafone, NTT DoCoMO, Softbank Mobile, SKT, Telstra and Telus.

With that kind of depth and breadth, it means enterprise users and consumers alike are going to have plenty of choice when it comes to both phones and networks. Can this shotgun approach help Microsoft win back some of the market share it has lost to rivals Apple and RIM? It obviously thinks so.

Windows Mobile 6.5 has yet to prove itself. Many, including InformationWeek blogger Ed Hansberry, don't think that WinMo 6.5 goes far enough. Whether or not it does, a lot of companies are counting on it to generate sales.