Microsoft may be one of the biggest names in the history of technology, but the company’s efforts in the smartphone space have largely been overshadowed by the runaway growth of Google’s Android and Apple’s iOS platforms.
Still, the Windows Phone has made strides against aggressive competition. And Microsoft is continuing to forge ahead in hopes of leveling the playing field further.
To that end, Verizon Wireless is giving substantial backing to Microsoft’s Windows Phone operating system. The reason? Customers want diversity in their mobile phone selections.
Verizon’s CFO Fran Shammo tells Reuters today that the company “wants a third strong software competitor in the mobile market where operators pay hefty subsidies for smartphones like the iPhone.”
“We’re really looking at the Windows Phone 8.0 platform because that’s a differentiator. We’re working with Microsoft on it,” Shammo said this week.
Shammo says Verizon may aim to help get Microsoft off the ground in the smartphone space, just as it did with Google’s Android some years ago.
