Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Nokia (NOK) Driving WP7 (MSFT) to Top Apple's (AAPL) iPhone

In an interesting and possible scenario put forth by Research firm IDC, they see Microsoft Corp.'s (NASDAQ:MSFT) Windows Phone 7 beating out Apple's (NASDAQ:AAPL) by 2015, citing the partnership they have with mobile phone giant Nokia (NYSE:NOK).

"Up until the launch of Windows Phone 7 last year, Microsoft has steadily lost market share while other operating systems have brought forth new and appealing experiences," said Ramon Llamas, senior research analyst with IDC's Mobile Devices Technology and Trends team. "The new alliance brings together Nokia's hardware capabilities and Windows Phone's differentiated platform. We expect the first devices to launch in 2012. By 2015, IDC expects Windows Phone to be number 2 operating system worldwide behind Android (NASDAQ:GOOG)."

IDC also said they see Apple's share shrinking some from the projected 2011 levels over the same period of time ending in 2015.

For Google, they see Android continuing to gain market share and ultimately dominating the sector, rising to a 45.40 share by 2015, up from the 39.5 percent share expected by the end of 2011.

"Android is poised to take over as the leading smartphone operating system in 2011 after racing into the number 2 position in 2010," Llamas added. "For the vendors who made Android the cornerstone of their smartphone strategies, 2010 was the coming-out party."

For 2011 IDC estimates Research in Motion (NASDAQ:RIMM) will have a market share of 14.9 percent, dropping to about 13.70 percent by 2015.

The bottom line for the Nokia, Microsoft projection is to deliver the goods. If they do, it could be a big player in the market, if not, they'll gradually shrink together in the mobile sector, with Nokia being hit the hardest.

Nokia closed Tuesday at $8.68, falling $0.06, or 0.69 percent. Microsoft closed at $25.49, gaining $0.08, or 0.31 percent.

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