Microsoft's $1 Billion spend

Microsoft will reportedly spend $1 billion to launch Windows Phone later this year. That seems like a lot of money to launch a product but I guess Microsoft is showing that's its (finally) serious about mobile. Despite this large spend, it doesn't seem like analysts are too hopeful about Microsoft's chances in the mobile OS game. A mobile OS report out of Gartner has Microsoft's Windows Phone market share dwindling down to 3.9% by 2014, with Android and Symbian battling it out for the top spot. Interestingly enough they have the iPhone OS market share holding steady and not flat out dominating the industry over the next couple of years.

$1 billion seems like a lot of money to be throwing at a potentially losing product... but I guess Microsoft has to do it if they even want a fighting chance in the market. As Paul Thurrott from WinInfo Daily puts it "How much of your own money would you spend if you had to save your own life?" (Love that quote!)

Forecast: Mobile Communications Device Open OS Sales to End Users by OS (Thousands of Units)

OS	2009	2010	2011	2014
Symbian	80,876.3	107,662.4	141,278.6	264,351.8
Market Share (%)	46.9	40.1	34.2	30.2
Android	6,798.4	47,462.1	91,937.7	259,306.4
Market Share (%)	3.9	17.7	22.2	29.6
Research In Motion	34,346.8	46,922.9	62,198.2	102,579.5
Market Share (%)	19.9	17.5	15.0	11.7
iOS	24,889.8	41,461.8	70,740.0	130,393.0
Market Share (%)	14.4	15.4	17.1	14.9
Windows Phone	15,031.1	12,686.5	21,308.8	34,490.2
Market Share (%)	8.7	4.7	5.2	3.9
Other Operating Systems	10,431.9	12,588.1	26,017.3	84,452.9
Market Share (%)	6.1	4.7	6.3	9.6
Total Market	172,374.3	268,783.7	413,480.5	875,573.8

Source: Gartner (August 2010)