Looks like Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) is teaming up with South Korean consumer electronics giant LG Electronics. Ole' Softie wants Windows Mobile to supplant Symbian and MacOS as the leading operating system for mobile devices.We've heard this all before. Although Windows Mobile has a decent market share, Apple, Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) has taken the mobile world by storm with the iPhone, and Research In Motion Ltd. (NASDAQ: RIMM) keeps bringing out one cool Blackberry after another. Can Microsoft really fend off these two large competitors with a "strategic collaboration" with LG?
Microsoft hopes this partnership will be different, as LG has become a powerful force in the mobile market in the last three years. LG CEO Yong Nam used a standard corporate explanation in explaining the partnership, stating "This agreement between LG and Microsoft will create critical momentum in the industry . . . with this partnership, mobile computing will truly become an everyday reality, and LG and Microsoft will be at the forefront of it."
But Mr. Nam, I have news for you: mobile computing has already become a reality and Microsoft is not in the lead, nor is it creating new markets. It will take a paradigm shift for Microsoft to stand up to the competitive challenge sitting in front of it, not just an enhancement of the same technology that's been around for years. I'll believe the fruits of this partnership's labor when I see it.
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