Microsoft targets smartphones, partners Qualcomm

The software behemoth Microsoft has inked a deal with Qualcomm that will enable it to increase its market share in the smartphone market.

According to the companies the technical details of the agreement will significantly speed-up development of Windows Mobile operating system devices.

Microsoft has been in search of a significant partner to further its venture into the smartphone operating system (OS) segment which is dominated by Symbian, Palm and Research in Motion’s BlackBerry platform.

The deal with Qualcomm will reduce the time it takes to design and develop new variants of Windows mobile smartphones due to the way Qualcomm will employ Microsoft’s code into the chips. Development time should be significantly reduced, according to the pair.

Qualcomm is already the leader in the US for CDMA chips which are used in many American devices and WCDMA chips and licences in Europe.

Hillary noted Qualcomm already has relationships with many of the cellphone providers and device makers around the world that Microsoft also needs to court.

Tags: Microsoft, Palm, Qualcomm, Research In Motion

This entry was posted on May 06th, 2006 and is filed under Brands. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or Trackback from your own site.