Microsoft(TM) has been one of the companies driving the digital age, making the internet and digital entertainment accessible to the masses and improving enterprise productivity. Having expanded its business operations into the mobile telecoms industry, hoping to take a foothold here too, how is the software behemoth progressing in an industry that has showed resistance to it?

After many years developing and pushing its Operating System onto handsets, Microsoft is still gaining relatively slow increases in market share, losing out to Symbian(TM), which dominates the Smartphone market. However, Microsoft has a major advantage over Symbian – convergence of digital devices in the home and in the enterprise.

What is Microsoft’s overall strategic vision for the future? Where does mobile technology fit into this? Will its Unified Communications strategy place handsets at the centre of the converged world? Or do they simply become tools to access UC and other internet-enabled services at anytime, from anywhere? Is Microsoft even bothered about its mobile Operating System now, or is it focussing on Software as Services for the future? All these answers and more can be found in the new visiongain report, Microsoft in Mobile: Market analysis and forecasts 2007-2012.

Since entering the mobile handset market, bypassing the likes of Nokia and targeting operators directly with reference designs, the dynamics have changed. Microsoft is no longer seen as the outsider, but will its future strategies and market dynamics alienate it from its old partners? Who are its fiercest rivals in each of its business sectors?

With analysis of the major competitive players in the market, this strategic analysis will guide you through the future prospects for Microsoft.

Strategically focussed, this 90+ page report begins with an analysis of Microsoft's internal restructuring, what this means and how it helps the company move forward in the mobile industry. It continues with an overview of wireless industry trends, particularly the growth in data services, and assesses how Microsoft has performed recently in the market, and with forecasts on how well shipments of its operating system will perform in the future

There is an extensive analysis of Microsoft's offerings in four competitive mobile market segments- Operating Systems (OS), Devices, Application and Services. This includes comparisons with the company's main competitors in the four segments.

Despite the competition its faces, Microsoft has significant financial clout and brand familiarity to extend its control of the desktop experience to the mobile space and significantly impact the wireless landscape.

Chapter 1. Introduction
1.1 Smart mobile devices
1.2 Aim of the Report
1.3 Structure of the report

Chapter 2. Microsoft's strategic vision -overview
Table 2.1 Microsoft’s revenue growth 1996-2006
Chart 2.1 Microsoft’s revenue growth 1996-2006
2.1 Microsoft's Business Divisions
Table 2.2 Microsoft's three business divisions
Chart 2.2 Microsoft’s Segment Revenue 2006 (FY)
2.2 Partnership and Interoperability
2.3 Microsoft's Cash Cows
Table 2.3 Comparison of features across Vista’s 4 Editions
2.3.1 Vista
Table 2.4 Selected Similarities between Vista and Mac OS X
2.3.1.1 Vista for Retail Consumers
Chart 2.3 Mac OS X Dashboard with widgets
Chart 2.4 Vista Sidebar with gadgets
2.3.1.2 Vista for Business/Corporate Consumers
2.3.2 Office 2007
2.4 Business Computing
2.4.1 Vista, Office 2007 and Exchange Server 2007
2.4.2 Microsoft Dynamics
2.4.3 Unified Communications (UC) -Microsoft and voice
2.4.3.1 UC Drivers
2.4.3.2 The Business Communications Market
2.4.3.2.1 Cisco in UC
Table 2.3 Cisco/Microsoft UC Interoperability
Chart 2.3 Magic Quadrant for Unified Communications
2.4.3.3 Microsoft's UC Products
Table 2.4 Microsoft’s UC Products
2.4.3.4 Microsoft's Acquisition of Tellme Networks
2.5 The competitive environment
2.5.1 New Business Models
2.5.1.1 - Microsoft's ``Software plus Services``
2.5.1.2 Advertising-supported revenue
2.5.1.2.1 Microsoft’s Advertising Acquisitions
2.6 Microsoft’s Mobile OS - key to achieving the end-to-end experience
2.6.1 Windows Mobile 6.0
2.6.2 Mobile Device Support
2.6.3 ActiveSync
2.7 Microsoft's (Anti?) Competition battle

Chapter 3. Wireless Industry Trends and Microsoft Mobile Strategy
3.1. Wireless Industry Trends
Chart 3.1 Global Mobile Subcriber %Growth 2006-2010
Chart 3.2 Global Mobile Phone Production %Growth 2006-2010
3.1.2 Data Services - A growth strategy
3.1.2.1 Mobile Content
3.1.2.2 Mobile email
3.1.2.3 Location-based Services
3.1.2.4 Mobile Search and Mobile Content Discovery
3.1.2.5 The Business Case
3.1.3 Social Networking and User Generated Content
3.2 Microsoft's Mobile Strategy
3.2.1 Microsoft's Mobile and Embedded Devices Group
Chart 3.3 Windows Embedded Offerings
Table 3.1 Windows Embedded Offerings
3.2.2.1 MED Financial Results
Table 3.2 MED Revenue 2004-2006
3.2.2 Aspects of Microsoft's mobile strategy
Chart 3.4 Aspects of Microsoft’s Mobile Strategy
3.2.2.1 Operating System
3.2.2.2 Mobile Internet
3.2.2.3 Branding and customization
3.2.2.4 Acquisitions
3.2.2.5 Partner ecosystem
Table 3.3 Selected Microsoft Mobile Industry Partners

Chapter 4. Mobile Operating Systems - Microsoft and its competitors
4.1 Microsoft's Mobile OS Market Strategy
4.1.1 Microsoft targets ISVs with Windows CE-based Mobile OS
Chart 4.1 Windows CE Timeline
4.1.2 Windows Mobile 6.0
Chart 4.2 Windows Mobile 6.0 ScreenShots
4.1.3 Future Releases
4.2 Microsoft's Mobile OS Competitors
Chart 4.3 Worldwide Mobile OS Market Share 2006
4.2.1 Symbian
Chart 4.4 Symbian Shareholders
4.2.1.1 Symbian OS v9
Table 4.1 Symbian Key Facts
4.2.1.2 Platform Strategy
4.2.1.3 Nokia Series 60 and 80
4.2.2 Palm and PalmSource
4.2.2.1 PalmSource’s Mobile OS Development History
4.2.2.2 Access Linux Platform
4.2.2.3 Palm, Inc
4.2.3 Linux
Chart 4.5 Linux Penetration Forecast by Region (2010)
Chart 4.6 Worldwide Linux Smartphone Shipments (2003-2010)
4.2.3.1 Achieving Industry Standards
Table 4.2 Mobile Industry Linux Activities
4.2.3.2 Players in the Mobile Linux Market
4.2.3.2.1 Motorola
4.2.3.2.2 Trolltech
4.2.3.2.3 MontaVista
4.2.3.2.4 Access and Palm
4.2.4 RIM
4.2.5 Java
Chart4.5 SavaJe Jasper S20

Chapter 5. Devices
5.1 The Mobile Device Market
5.1.2 Device Sales
Table 5.1 Comparison between Mobile Devices
5.1.3 Original Design Manufacturers (ODMs) and Reference Designs
5.2 Microsoft's mobile device strategy
5.2.1 Microsoft and High Tech Computer Corporation (HTC)
5.3 Evolution of Windows Mobile Devices
Chart 5.1 Evolution of Windows Mobile Devices
Chart5.2 Orange SPVE650
5.4 Microsoft’s Device Competitors
Table 5.2 Smart mobile device market Q4 2006, Q4 2005
Chart 5.4 Mobile Device Vendor Market Share Q4 2006
5.4.1 Nokia
Table 5.3 Nokia’s Mobile Device Volumes by Geographic Area
5.4.2 RIM
5.4.3 Motorola
5.4.4 Palm
Chart 5.5 Geographic Split of Palm’s sales
Chart 5.6 Palm’s Revenue Growth Q3 2004 - Q3 2007

Chapter 6. Applications
6.1 RIM's application development environment
6.2 Microsoft in Mobile Internet
6.2.1 Mobile Browser
6.2.2 Windows Live For Windows Mobile
6.2.3 Mobile Search
6.2.4 Microsoft's Mobile Internet Competitors
6.2.4.1 Google
6.2.4.2 Yahoo
6.3 Wireless Email

Chapter 7. Conclusions
Chart 7.1: Microsoft Mobile and Embedded Devices Growth Forecast 2005-2012
7.1 Reaching the Mass Market
7.2 End user customization
7.3 Mobile Internet
7.4 Increasing range of devices and number of manufacturers