Sendo snubs Microsoft

Microsoft has suffered a setback in its plans to move into the mobile software market when UK mobile phone maker Sendo decided to scrap its phone based on Microsoft’s software Z100.

Sendo was to deliver the phone this month to Telefonica and to Italian operator Wind. Instead, Sendo is licensing software developed by Nokia.

Analysts at Ovum made the following comments: “Sendo's dramatic defection to the Nokia Series 60/Symbian platform is a cruel blow for Microsoft, which had hoped to gain ground in the mobile market by being the platform of choice for operator-specified smartphones.

"But this might now prove difficult for Microsoft, given Sendo's reasons for turning its back on the Smartphone platform, even though it had a device ready to ship. Microsoft's licensing conditions could not accommodate the depth of customisation required by operators.

"If Sendo could not provide devices that met increasingly demanding operator specifications, then it would be left to differentiate against more powerful competitors on price alone. Microsoft is now ultimately relying on its Asian device partners to help it prove that it has something of value to give to operators."

Microsoft made an investment or more than $10 m (€10m) in Sendo in 2001, for which it received 5% of the company. Following its decision to use the Nokia developed software, Sendo is cancelling its licence agreement with Microsoft.