WSJ.com - T-Mobile Delays Microsoft Phone, Dealing Blow to Software Maker

WSJ.com - T-Mobile Delays Microsoft Phone, Dealing Blow to Software Maker "A spokesman for T-Mobile, a unit of Deutsche Telekom AG, said that the phone isn't ready to be launched because it is "not of the quality we expect." He said that the handset, which runs Microsoft's Smartphone software and is to be made by HTC Corp. of Taiwan, should still go on sale this year. ...
U.S. research firm firm International Data Corp. reports that Nokia supplied 57% of the 1.7 million smartphones shipped world-wide in the first quarter. These handsets use the Finnish company's own software together with software from Symbian Ltd., a London consortium in which Nokia owns a minority stake. Two other leading phone makers, Siemens AG and Samsung Electronics Co., also plan to launch phones running a combination of Nokia and Symbian's software this year.
By contrast, fewer than 10% of the smartphones shipped in the first quarter used Microsoft's software. The U.S. giant is focused on persuading mobile-phone operators to launch own-brand handsets running its software. Aside from T-Mobile, AT&T Wireless Services Inc. in the U.S., TMN, a unit of Portugal Telecom SA, and several other operators plan to launch such phones this year. Orange SA, which launched the first phone running Microsoft's Smartphone software in October, intends to launch an improved version of the handset following complaints from users about glitches and poor battery life."