Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) may be one of the “new kids” on the smartphone operating system block, but Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA) believes in the new Windows 8 operating system so much that it is making it “central” in its pursuit of largeer market share in mobile gaming.
Some vested interest in the success of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) in the mobile world certainly applies to hedge-fund managers like billionaire David Einhorn of Greenlight Capital, who had $241 million invested in Microsoft at the end of March, though he did sell half of his holdings during the quarter.
A recent article describes how Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA) has been in discussions with Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) over its Windows 8 platform, and EA was trying to develop and find developers for mobile game applications that would easily integrate into the new operating system, which is expected to grab a larger share of the market than previous versions of Windows Phone. Not only that, EA is also looking to grow its mobile gaming market significantly, as gamers seem to be moving more toward mobile play on smartphones and tablets rather than boxed, console games which had been EA’s staple.
Leading up to this week’s Gamescom conference in Cologne, Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA) COO Peter Moore said about discussions with Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), “Anything that allows more platforms to be adopted quickly that have a gaming element is good for Electronic Arts.” And with Windows-based phones sufereing from a real deficiency in downloadable applications for Windows Phone (about 100,000) compared to what is available for iOS by Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Android by Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) – about 600,000 for each – then anything that would help to close that gap would be welcome for Windows Phone users.
Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:EA) has recently bought online gaming companies like PopCap and Playfish to increase its offering in online and mobile gaming to dry to de-emphasize its reliance on boxed console games. And it’s certain that relationships like the budding one with Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) should enhance EA’s reach in mobile gaming, while helping Microsoft reach more users of Window Phone 8 when it launches in the fall, due to a recent statistic that listed gaming applications as the most downloaded onto mobile devices in the United States, according to Nielsen Co., a marketing and research company.
So, having the ability to download and use mobile game applications will likely be a big factor in the viability of Windows Phone 8 in the smartphone market for Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT).
