At Microsoft, a Smart Guy Has His Hands Full With the Smart Phone Business

The New York Times today had an article on the new head of Microsoft's Mobile software business, Ya-Qin Zhang. I give him credit for the point he made in the article:

Magneto will test what Dr. Zhang said was his attempt to create a new focus on quality software - a break from the Microsoft practice of emphasizing a cascade of new features in each successive product release.

"Now the first thing is quality," he said, adding that his second priority is building partnerships for the Windows Mobile business, which has so far failed to replicate Microsoft's impact in the desktop computer world

Quality will definitely help. But Microsoft has never had any shortage of smart people working there. Their challenge ahead is actually much more one of marketing and communication as noted by an analyst.

"In the cellphone industry, success has more to do with market structure than technology," said Michael Kleeman, a telecommunications industry consultant who is a policy researcher at the University of California, San Diego.

And the telecom companies, having seen what happened to IBM in the computer industry when it engaged Microsoft, isn't about to hand over power to Bill Gates. Good luck, Mr. Zhang.