Just recently, Microsoft’s Julie Larson-Green strongly hinted that Windows RT could be disappearing from the Windows line-up at some point in the future. During a Q&A session at the UBS Global Technology Summit, Larson-Green admitted that Microsoft was not going to have three operating systems – Windows Phone, Windows 8, and Windows RT.
In a new report by Canalys, Microsoft is projected to own 5% of the tablet market by 2014. On top of that, Canalys shares the same feelings as Microsoft when it comes to having three operating systems.
“To improve its position it must drive app development and better utilize other relevant parts of its business to round out its mobile device ecosystem. A critical first step is to address the coexistence of Windows Phone and Windows RT. Having three different operating systems to address the smart device landscape is confusing to both developers and consumers alike,” said Canalys research analyst Pin Chen Tang.
Tang also believes that 2014 will see another major shift for Microsoft as the Nokia acquisition brings Microsoft closer to becoming a fully-fledged smart mobile device vendor. “As a vendor Microsoft needs to prove to channel partners and consumers that it is in this market for the long haul. Balancing the competition with its vendor partners and embracing a “challenger” rather than an “incumbent” mentality is essential,” Tang adds.
This idea of only having two Windows operating systems – presumably Windows Phone and Windows – is not something new and it looks like it will happen in the near future.
“We have the Windows Phone OS. We have Windows RT and we have full Windows. We’re not going to have three. We do think there’s a world where there is a more mobile operating system that doesn’t have the risks to battery life, or the risks to security. But, it also comes at the cost of flexibility. So we believe in that vision and that direction and we’re continuing down that path,” Microsoft’s Larson-Green stated.
