In an interview with the San Francisco Chronicle, the president of Microsoft’s entertainment and devices division again re-iterated Microsoft’s stance on two topics that just won’t seem to go away: the Xbox 360 game console getting a Blu-ray drive, and Microsoft producing a Zune phone.
On the topic a Zune phone, Bach was very clear: Microsoft already sells 3G mobile phone technology, and it’s called Windows Mobile. Bach—who also manages Microsoft’s Windows Mobile hardware group—sees the growth of the smartphone market as a tremendous opportunity for Microsoft, and predicts Windows Mobile devices will outsell the iPhone and the BlackBerry. But Microsoft itself doesn’t make phones, and has no intention of getting in to the handset business. Instead, it aims to provide the software platform with which phone makers can create different handsets that appeal to different types of users.
