Mobile Solutions CI

Microsoft's Shrinking Window For Tablets: Its Fifth-Mover Product Strategy Is Late - Forbes

market dynamics are rapidly altering consumers’ attitudes and needs. Most significantly, consumers’ interest in Windows tablets is plummeting. In Q1, 2011, Windows was by far the top choice of consumers – while no touch-first Windows tablets existed, 46% of U.S. consumers yearned for one. By Q3, 2011, that picture had changed dramatically: Windows was no longer #1 in choice preference, and interest among consumers dropped to 25%. Microsoft has missed the peak of consumer desire for a product they haven’t yet released.

via www.forbes.com

A "product" view of tablets. While the market may be moving quickly, is it possible to assess a product without even knowing fully the experience it will deliver?

Why Verizon needs AT&T-Mo to just disappear — Tech News and Analysis

The biggest threat to Verizon’s future business isn’t AT&T; it’s the FCC and other regulators

via gigaom.com

A brutal truth--what does it say for the US wireless market when monopoly pricing power is the only perceived competitive threat?

This indicates why disruptive pricing and revenue models will blossom in 2012 and 2013. Alternative consumption and pricing are the big levers which will move the market next, as product technology surpasses consumer needs.

Grading the top 10 U.S. carriers in the third quarter of 2011 - FierceWireless

As the third-quarter reporting season comes to a close, it's time to start parsing the information to see which carriers slipped and which managed to get ahead

via www.fiercewireless.com

Great compendium of subscriber adds, losses, and ending state across US carriers heading into the 2011 holiday season.

Android Crushed the Smartphone Competition Last Quarter | Gadget Lab | Wired.com

The Gartner report also notes that Windows Phone’s market share dropped, from 2.7 percent in the third quarter of 2010 to only 1.5 percent this year. Windows didn’t have much going on in the summer, with the spoils of its partnership with Nokia, namely the Nokia Lumia 800, only beginning to gain some prominence this quarter (unfortunately, the phone won’t even be available in the US until 2012).

via www.wired.com

Despite an industry-wide desire for an alternative to the Android and iOS duopoly, it increasingly seems that WP will struggle to be that alternative. At least in handsets.