Would WinMo even be relevant without HTC?

[bkrodgers]

In a word, no.

I can say without question that HTC has single-handedly kept WinMo alive. The work they've done to skin the OS into something that even sort of keeps up with people's expectations in an iPhone world is huge. And for you SPB Mobile Shell and Samsung TouchWiz fans, I'd argue that HTC should be credited for raising the bar of what can be done on WM. They were really the trailblazers on this, starting with the Touch.

Since the iPhone came out, I don't think there's been a particularly successful WinMo phone with the stock WinMo 6.0/6.1 interface.

[austin420]

Originally Posted by bkrodgers

In a word,no.

Since the iPhone came out, I don't think there's been a particularly successful WinMo phone with the stock WinMo 6.0/6.1 interface.

for phones. and i know this is a phone site, but like i said, theyve got the non phone pda market on lock.

[bkrodgers]

Originally Posted by austin420

for phones. and i know this is a phone site, but like i said, theyve got the non phone pda market on lock.

True, but that's a rapidly shrinking market.

They've got a strong presence in non-PDA markets, such as the Symbol type devices that a lot of inventory and POS systems use. Even Apple used those WM devices up until recently! But that's a niche market. I'm not even sure if they can retain that without a strong phone presence. Even the iPhone is becoming a somewhat "corporate approved" device because it's captured the hearts and minds of the public.

It will be interesting to see what happens with WM7. It sounds like they're finally focused on delivering a strong "stock" experience. In fact there are rumors they're even going to prevent HTC from customizing the UI very much, at least in the "media" version. If true, I wonder how HTC feels about basically being told "thanks for keeping us on life support the last few years. We've got it from here."