Figure A shows mobile-device shipments in 2005 and 2010, as forecasted by IDC.
Although Windows Mobile is expected to grow from shipping 6.1 million devices
in 2005 to 22.1 million in 2010, Symbian sustains reduced but still substantial market
leadership and is expected to ship 54.8 million devices in 2010. Research in Motion’s
(RIM’s) BlackBerry will remain popular, especially in corporate email deployments,
but will come under pressure from new devices and management applications, especially
in Windows environments. It’s worth noting that BlackBerry is a closed ecosystem
that is supported by the cell operators who make money through the Network
Operations Center (NOC).
Because the cell operators
are involved, the costs of
connecting RIM devices is
often cheaper than connecting
equivalent Windows
Mobile devices, although this
differential may disappear
as it becomes more attractive
for cell operators to sell
unlimited data plans for an
increasing number of Windows
mobile devices