Microsoft in 2007 - A review

The year 2007 has been a mixed bag for Microsoft. It had its moments, but overall it has been an average year for Microsoft. As far as cellphone advertising industry is concerned, Microsoft has made its intentions very clear – it wants to beat Google in the mobile advertising market.

It all started on a high note. Microsoft made everyone look forward to 2007 with its Vista and it eventually got released in January 2007. But little did Microsoft know that Vista would have such a big backlash. Despite the improved user interface and other things, Vista was not up to the mark and Microsoft was expectedly a tad disappointed.

Then it was the turn of Windows Mobile 6 which was yet another highly anticipated product from Microsoft. It was a good one, but the timing was wrong this time. As soon as Windows Mobile 6 was launched, there was the launch of Apple iPhone which is probably the most talked about product of the year. The iPhone simply stole the thunder and sold a record 270,000 pieces in just about 30 hours of its release, which was never heard of before. (Still, iPhone was not able to bury Windows Mobile completely despite the unbelievable initial sales record, which I will blog about sometime later). Microsoft managed to keep the momentum going as far as Windows Mobile was concerned, as it was considered good and got positive reviews from the market.

Later that year, we saw the launch of yet another highly anticipated product, Google Android. This was even bigger than the iPhone, considering the fact that Google kept us guessing for most part of the year about Google Phone and instead it came up with Android. Again, Windows Mobile was completely off the news for some time.

Also, 2007 was the year of acquisitions. The big players in the market realized the true potential of cellphone advertising and acquired cellphone advertising firms. Nokia, AOL, Publicis, and other big players bought cellphone advertising companies to strengthen their position in the market and Microsoft didn’t want to be left behind and acted quickly. In May, Microsoft bought ScreenTonic, a notable cellphone advertising company in the U.S.A.

In December, Microsoft started offering ads on its MSN Mobile page and became an active competitor in the cellphone advertising market along with Google and Yahoo. The U.S. MSN Mobile page has very good traffic and it’s got advertisements from big names like Bank of America, Paramount Pictures, Jaguar, and many more. Already Microsoft is a well-known name in selling mobile phone ads in U.K., Spain, France, Japan, and Belgium, and if the idea clicks in the U.S., we might even see Microsoft expanding its territory further.

Overall, it’s been an average year for Microsoft and it can only improve. It better get improved, considering the competition from Google and other companies in the market.

Categories: Microsoft.

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