Before you throw the brickbats Apple fan boys, at least give me a second to explain. Much as it pains me (maybe it doesnt pain a lot, The Sony Ericsson Xperia X1 is Windows Mobile based too) - its Windows and not Apple that would be the biggest player in the cell phone industry soon.

While Symbian has maintained its lead all these years, its fast loosing out thanks to strong competition from Microsoft with their Windows Mobile and of course Apple and their claims of reaching the 10 million sales mark in the second year of iPhone sales.

I still recall when Windows Mobile was announced. I pooh-poohed the whole thing suggesting Microsoft should not get their feet into an industry they knew nothing about. I was right initially, the first versions were a nightmare and even those who were brave enough to give it a go soon gave up. But Microsoft persisted. And with their deep pockets they have made a succesful product of Windows Mobile operating system. The figures speak for themselves. The Redmond-based company has announced that it expects its mobile phone platform to grow by a remarkable 50% per year in 2008 and 2009 - fueled by a fast-growing smartphone market. The 50% growth has been cited as bare minimum and expectations are even more then that.

Everything now depends on Windows Mobile 7 but Microsoft is already expecting to ship 20 million Windows Mobile units in the current fiscal year ending in June 2008. Going by what history tells us, Microsoft may well have the last laugh despite not being in the publics eye like Apple. However the Xperia X1 from Sony Ericsson has been called an iPhone killer. If it does work out, it would only add the icing to the cake for Microsoft.

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