MSFT CEO: Apple Products Too Expensive, Android Too Wild
Windows Phone hoping to make its mark in the smartphone market.
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has shared his thoughts on the software giant's competitors, with the executive labeling Apple products too expensive and Google's Android too wild due to its openness.
Speaking with LinkedIn co-founder and venture capitalist Reid Hoffman at a Churchill Club event, Steve Ballmer commented on Microsoft's competitors in the mobile market. "The ecosystem of Android is a little wild," he stated, referring to malware and compatibility issues deriving from several versions of Android. "Conversely, Apple's system looks highly controlled and quite high prices," he added, noting the $1,000 cost of an iPhone in Russia. "How do you get quality not at a premium price with not quite as controlled an ecosystem."
"The best of both worlds is available to us," he stressed. Ballmer explained that phone operators around the globe want three vendors, not two. "On the high end, they have Apple and Samsung and a sea at the low-end. We have a customer set that wants an alternative, and it's a different opportunity strategically...the product has to be great. Windows 8 is the most personal smart phone. When you whip out your phone, you want to see the things that matter to you."
Ballmer, however, acknowledged that it's still an early stage: "If anyone thinks hardware innovation in pocket devices is ending, they are nuts." According to analyst firm Gartner, Microsoft's Windows Phone mobile operating system attributes to only 2.4 percent of the smartphones shipped worldwide in 2012's third quarter.
That said, Ballmer doesn't expect Microsoft's mobile operating system to become an instant success. "There is unmet need from operators and, from a consumer perspective, a lot of room for innovation. The challenge is to get 10 percent of the smartphone market, and then 15 percent, and then 20 percent. We aren't trying to get to 60 percent overnight."

Personally, I'm still hanging out for someone to make something like a virtual windows box that'll run on linux for the non-code-monkey types like me.
Hell, maybe there already is one, but I don't know about it. Inertia has me using windows, 'cause I play lots of games. That's all there is to it, and I'm sure I'm not alone.
Apple is a rip off but they still sell out of any new product in half an hour worldwide.
Android is wild and out of control, but sleighs the competition with no sign of stopping.
Boo hop, poor M$
Apple is definitely overpriced, but its also so so closed of a system that it doesn't give people wiggle room on what they want. Its a one-size-fits-all kind of system which is unappealing for a lot of people including myself. The upside to this is that Apple can provide a more thorough product; support for its products is very very good because they only have a handful of models at a time that they have to maintain.
Android is at the other end of the extreme. Its so so open that just about anyone can make a tablet/phone/whatever and load android on it and sell it. And while there are some freaking awesome android devices there is also a lot of crap that should never have been made/allowed to sell. You get stuff like $50 tablets coming out of china that are so crappy and underpowered they can't do anything, and are usually full of bugs/etc. A lot of manufactures also release several products and neglect most of them except the top tier devices or just the flagship devices. But android as just an o/s is very nice because its so open to development and has a huge span of applications.
I think if microsoft can find the middle ground between the two major players right now it can become a major powerhouse in the mobile sector.
*You're.
1. Apple's system looks highly controlled and quite high prices;
2. Google's Android too wild due to its openness. Malware and compatibility issues deriving from several versions of Android.
Let's address this:
1. Windows Phone phones are not exactly cheap, while you can buy a previous generation iPhone for affordable prices. Surface RT is not by any means a cheap tablet either - $499 without the Touch Cover; the ecosystem is also highly controlled, you can't install apps other than the ones available from the Microsoft Store. The exact same thing for Windows Phone.
2. Compatibility issues ? What about several versions of Windows Mobile and Windows Phone ? Apps designed for Windows Mobile 6.5 (The first one to have the main screens - but not the rest of the OS - designed for touch) work with Windows Phone 7 ? Apps designed for Windows Phone 8 work with Windows Phone 7 ? Malware issues ? It's easy to talk when nobody uses your OS. Everybody knows that the most popular platforms get the most attention from hackers. Linux can also brag about being more secure than Windows. I like Linux, but I'm not going to pretend that a big factor behind the fact it is more secure, besides arguably more robust security features, is the fact that is has a small marketshare. According to Tom's latest article, Google's Android currently has 72.4 percent market share.
Abandon Hope All Ye Ballmers and minions, of ever controlling the virturalized zone!
When was the last time you checked...2006?....
Windows phone 7/7.5 and Windows phone 8 are flippin awesome, the day i got mine, both my bros wanted to trade me their iPhone 4's, yeah few else people know about them coz, they aren't inundated with marketing or crap from the likes of Apple or Google, Microsoft is playing it safe for now....
Dude..Come on, you got to admit WP7/7.5 & WP8 are awesome, i have two phones, 1 HTC android and 1 samsung WP7.5, the android came out a year after the windows phone and it has the specs to beat WP7.5 to a PULP, but guess what, it doesnt coz even though it got twice the RAM, twice the CPU power, its still android and we all know bloated the android experience is, now im about to put up the HTC android up for sale and stick with the trusty WP7.5!!! Dont knock it till you try it.
So his suggestion is "Don't Buy Anything".