Windows Phone Thoughts: Windows Mobile Loses 2.7% of Smartphone Market in Q2 09

"Microsoft's mobile market share continues to drop year-on-year, according to data released by Gartner. Smartphone sales were up to 41.0 million in 2Q09, a 27 percent increase over 2Q08's 32.3 million. Windows Mobile, however, only managed to grab 3.81 million of those units in 2Q09, or about 9.3 percent. The number of units wasn't much of a drop from 2Q08, where they booked 3.87 million sales. But the segment was smaller then, and that was was good enough for 12 percent of the market in 2Q08; given the growth of smartphone sales, the drop has to be very disappointing."

I recently took a vacation from Portland to St. Louis and had to visit a few airports. I've noticed that airports are a great way of telling what people are using as a mobile device so I'm always scanning the crowds to see what people choose. I visited airports in Portland, Denver, St. Louis, and Albuquerque. You know which devices I saw the most? Blackberry Curves and Iphones. Of course there were others but these are the two I saw the most. When I traveled a few years back it was mostly Windows Mobile devices, so it wasn't exactly shocking when I read this article. With so many Android devices coming out and the rumor of Dell getting back in the game, it makes me wonder where Microsoft will fit in. What's it going to take to get Windows Mobile devices back in the thick of it? Will Windows Mobile 6.5 or perhaps 7.0 do it or will they just continue to slip? When you're out and about, do you see many Windows Mobile devices? If not, what are you seeing most?