Windows Phone Thoughts: Closed vs. Open Phone Systems

The Motley Fool posted an article a few days ago on how Palm could lose everything (haven't they just about done that already?) and what they must do to survive. The main reason I am posting this is the Fool has some research showing that closed systems are crushing open systems in the marketplace. Closed systems are represented by Nokia, Apple and RIM, where the own the operating system and do much if not all of the hardware design. Open systems would include Palm, HTC and Motorola where the software is purchased from a third party, like Microsoft or Google.

This is the exact opposite of the PC world where only Apple owns their own OS. All other PC vendors buy from Microsoft or use a flavor of Linux, and despite all of the media attention on Apple, it is still below 10% of US share, though it is growing, especially in the consumer space.

Years ago when MS got into the phone OS business, they hoped to repeat their desktop success in the mobile device world and to date, aren't even close, while newcomers like Apple and very focused developers like RIM own the top positions. Do you see this trend continuing? What can the open system vendors (MS, HTC, Palm, etc.) do to turn this around? Should MS release their own phone? I know one of the things that really frustrates users is when there is a problem with their Windows Mobile device, Microsoft won't even talk to them. It is the carrier's responsibility to service the consumer, and speaking from experience, in all but the easiest of solutions, the carrier immediately responds with "wipe the devices memory and let's see what that does." That response simply says "I have no clue about this OS we've put on your phone, so just reset it." If MS sold a phone, I suspect they'd be far more inclined to help the user than their OEM partners are.