USA Today has an interview up with Steve Ballmer that touches on a number of interesting topics, including the CEO's perception of the iPhone and its chances of long-term success.
"There's no chance that the iPhone is going to get any significant market share. No chance," said Ballmer. "It's a $500 subsidized item. They may make a lot of money. But if you actually take a look at the 1.3 billion phones that get sold, I'd prefer to have our software in 60% or 70% or 80% of them, than I would to have 2% or 3%, which is what Apple might get."
Ballmer's comments point to a telling difference in corporate focus between Microsoft and Apple. Even if the iPhone's first iteration is a success, and Apple then introduces lower-cost versions, it'll still be a device that's confined to a small section of the overall market. For every person willing to drop $300-500 on a phone (assuming a price drop), there are a great many more consumers who won't. By choosing to focus on providing the underlying software that drives the cell phone, rather than both the cell phone and the accompanying software, Microsoft has already grabbed a greater percentage of the market for itself than the iPhone can reasonably be projected to gain. Windows Mobile is popular, enough so that that RIM will support it for Blackberry use.
