Microsoft's advances in mobile may hit a wall

Microsoft's Panos Panay proudly shows off the Surface hardware at the company's unveiling event at Chelsea Piers in New York. / Seth Rosenblatt/CNET

(MoneyWatch) Microsoft (MSFT) is desperate for a mobile computing hit. Windows Phone has fizzled so far, leaving the tablet market for the software giant to make some headway.

Research firm IDC expects Microsoft to gain ground in the crowded tablet business over the next few years, with Windows-based devices projected to have roughly 10 percent market share by 2016. That would still represent only a small sliver of the market. iPads will constitute nearly half the market, while some 40 percent will consist of Android-based tablets, IDC projects. But it would be an improvement over what Microsoft has seen in smartphones since it introduced the Windows Phone.

Such long-term forecasts aside, there is some reason to think Microsoft may be making faster strides in mobile. Some comes from IDC, which says that Windows tablets have gone from 1 percent of the market in 2011 to 2.9 percent this year with the advent of Windows 8, the first version of Microsoft's operating system designed to work smoothly with touchscreens.

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Yet there are other, more meaningful signs that Microsoft is gaining acceptance for its Windows 8 and Windows RT mobile platforms. And those emanate not from trends in the consumer end of the mobile tech market, but rather in corporate IT. At an event I attended in New York earlier this week, a Bank of America (BAC) IT executive in charge of mobile app development said that the company had approximately 10 million users of its smartphone and tablet apps. Over the last month, the banking firm saw 100,000 users register with a Windows RT device, significant growth for a new platform.

At the same event, an Accenture mobility consultant for the financial services industry said that for a long time, his clients talked only of Google (GOOG) Android and Apple (AAPL) iOS. But now "Windows RT is definitely on their maps," the consultant said.

Such anecdotes are of course no promise of raging success in the highly competitive mobile sector. But they are an indication of a generally favorable market response to Windows tablets.

Conversely, it could be a case of too little, too late. Microsoft's success over its history has stemmed either directly or indirectly from its control of client computing. Having a virtual monopoly on desktops and laptops let the company build its Office suite of products into the clear office productivity leader. That led to acceptance of Windows tools and even servers.

But as computing increasingly goes mobile, Microsoft appears destined to gradually lose that dominance, a shift that would affect its entire business.

[mistermcg1]

I have been on iPhone 4s (very good phone), ipad2 and a 2009 Mac book pro.
I sold the Iphone 4s to grab a new lumia 820, currently selling my mac book pro and Ipad 2 and I will be purchasing a Surface Pro on release. Personally I am fed up with trying to get Apple products to cross over with Windows applications. I also dislike iCloud. I personally think Skydrive is hands down winner over all and is making more improvements with time.

Basically I looked at my Iphone and I pad and found that everything I was doing required a 3rd party app. Drobbox, smart office, etc.. or having to email myself from Pages to convert the .pages file to a word document - this is annoying for me!

It took awhile to get used to the new phone but now its like second nature - I like that I have a mico sd expandable storage, and can plug that into my new surface pro when it arrives. I like that I can email an MP3 file straight from my phone to anyone and that I can play pretty much any video by drag a dropping it into my phones (usb type) storage.

I am just fed up with the Apple mentality of "my way or the high way"

Apply seem more focused on winning patent wars and releasing marginally upgraded products for premium prises despite major flaws i.e. iOS 6 Maps - and the fact an ipad 3 still drains battery when on charge and playing a game....
Windows Phone software has its drawbacks, but still beats the closed mentality of apple.

Personally I think the only reason I was on apple was due to its product line of Ipad etc. There was no alternative to me, Windows 8 has changed the scence and products like the surface pro are hands down more practicle that an iPad (I know its a different category of product). The surface Pro for me was the deciding point of leaving Apple.

I still like Apple products and I will miss is OS X - but enough is enough for me - what I have seen with Windows 8 is new, fresh, workable and logical.

[Americank17]

Just a Note that YouTube has become a PAID Channel and they do not allow any more 'Home Made Videos and the Microsoft Windows Systems are Incompatible with Googles New System which demands that you Switch to Google Chrome! Reporters Please Investigate this! Please since YouTube is No Longer the Same!

[eriksherman]

YouTube does have channels that pay the producers, but you can still upload videos from Windows, even using Internet Explorer (just tried it).