The launch of Microsoft’s new mobile operating system, Windows Phone 7, is just around the corner. In a matter of days, the OS will be officially unveiled at an exclusive, high-profile event taking place in New York City.
There’s no doubt that Windows Phone 7 has its work cut out for it, arriving so late to the smartphone game, in an industry dominated by Apple, Android, RIM and even Nokia’s Symbian. But is it hopeless for Microsoft to even try? Or does Windows Phone have a chance?
WP7: Boom or Bust?
According to Gartner, Windows Phone 7 will be a bust. The analyst firm doesn’t expect Microsoft’s newest OS to bring anything but a negligible boost in Windows Mobile market share when it launches – bringing it up from 4.7% to 5.2% as of next year. By 2014, the market share for WP7 will be only 3.9%, says Gartner.
That prediction infuriated some bloggers, but it was only one of the many forecasts out there. IDC’s mobile analyst Ramon Llamas, for example, is thinking more positively about the OS, saying “Microsoft has a potential hit on its hands.”
Even more surprisingly, a notable Apple blogger (and industry insider), Daring Fireball‘s John Gruber, went on record saying the new Windows Phone 7 was “really nice” and that he was “really impressed” with the OS.
And a recent developer survey from Appcelerator found that 27% of developers were interested in building applications for Windows Phone 7.
But now we want to know what you think. Let us know whether you’re feeling positive or negative over Windows Phone 7 in our poll below. And if you think that forecasting something’s success pre-launch is bunk, there’s an option for that too:
