Microsoft big wig Steve Ballmer has blown any hopes of a Microsoft mobile out of the water, in a statement made in an interview recently. In an interview with Reuters, he said that analysts predicting the computing giant will enter the mobile phone market are wrong, and that MS has no current plans to do so in the foreseeable future. Of course, in the tech world, it’s best never to say never. Ballmer was quoted as saying:
“I do not anticipate us building a phone. Sorry, we are not going build one”
The statement was made following a press conference in which Ballmer, when questioned about free mobile phone platforms like Google Android, stated that Microsoft is going to buck the trend and continue charging for Windows Mobile to the tune of $8-$15 per phone.
To add even more pressure to MS’s decison-making process, Nokia is offering to buy out other manufacturers from Symbian in order to make its software completely royalty free as well. But MS has no plans to do this, according to Ballmer.
He even took a parting shot at Google, adding:
“It’s interesting to ask why would Google or Nokia, Google in particular, why would they invest a lot of money and try to do a really good job if they make no money. I think most operators and telecom companies are skeptical about Google.”
That may or may not be true, but still…this last comment scores fairly low in the class department. Maybe with Google and this project, it isn’t just about money.
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