Phones

Can Motorola Save Windows Phone 7?

Nokia is currently seen as Windows Phone 7's savior. But there's another unlikely knight in shining armor that may help as well --- Motorola. Motorola Mobility CEO Sanjay Jha says he would consider making and selling Windows Phone 7 devices. Coming from the company that developed the Droid, Droid 2, Droid X, Droid X2, and the Xoom tablet, that could be a big win for Microsoft.

FierceWireless reported that at the Oppenheimer Technology & Communications Conference, Jha said:

"I think we're completely open to the notion of Windows as a platform."

Jha didn't give Windows Phone 7 a full-blown endorsement, though. FierceWireless rerpots that he said Motorola "will evaluate Windows Phone to see if it becomes a viable ecosystem." The implication is clear that it's not yet a viable ecosystem.

Jha added that he believed that the iPhone and Android OS will be around for the long term, but doesn't believe that Windows Phone, Blackberry, and HP's WebOS will all survive.

Expect Windows Phone 7 to be around for the long term, despite its myriad problems. Mobile is too important to Microsoft for the company to allow its phone OS to die. A mobile OS is not nearly as important to HP. As for Blackberry, Research in Motion's pockets aren't nearly as deep as Microsoft's. In a battle of attrition, Microsoft would win.

Having Motorola develop and sell Windows Phone 7 devices would be a coup for Microsoft. Motorola's phones are well-designed, popular with users, and often pushed by salespeople.

Add Motorola Windows Phone 7 devices to the blizzard of phones expected to be released by Nokia, and you'd have a variety of solid Windows Phone 7 devices at many price points. That, by itself, won't save Windows Phone 7. But it would certainly be a start.