During a news conference on Tuesday, Eddie Wu, Microsoft Corp managing director of OEM embedded devices Asia, told Reuters that the company expects the global unit sales of phone software Windows Mobile to record an annual increase of at least 50 percent for fiscal years 2008 and 2009.  

In the 2006/2007 fiscal year, the company sold more than 11 million Windows Mobile software units. 20 million more are expected to be sold in the 2007/2008 fiscal year which ends in June.

As the demand for smartphones is on an continuously ascending path worldwide, Microsoft’s statement seems rather reasonable. According to data provided by Gartner, the global shipments of smartphones have increased by 52.5 percent, reaching about 12 million units in 2007. One of the reasons for Microsoft’s optimistic prospects could be the 3G technology, which should significantly boost smartphone sales.

Mr. Wu mentioned some of the areas where the growth of Windows Mobile is most visible; they include the Middle East, Brazil, Russia and India.

Microsoft does however have some serious competition; among the best-known we find Apple Inc., Research in Motion and Palm Inc., to mention but a few.   

New phone models are constantly being developed and the range of their uses keeps diversifying; they now can provide users with global positioning systems, services for voice directions, 3-D maps and even traffic alerts.