Sony Ericsson, the world"s fourth-largest cellphone maker, and Microsoft have stareted to cooperate in making smartphones, with the first Sony Ericsson handset based on the Windows Mobile operating system on sale by the end of the year. This deal means all the world"s top handset makers apart from Nokia, which is #1 with a 40% market share, will now have Windows Mobile versions. The Sony Ericsson model, named the "X1," will be a slider phone with a typewriter-style qwerty keyboard and touch screen. The marketing manager of Microsoft"s mobile business, Scott Horn, told Reuters he was confident of reaching the company"s goal of selling at least 20 million smartphones with partners by the end of Microsoft"s fiscal year at the end of June.
"We"d love them to do it," said Microsoft"s Horn about Nokia. "We have a very good relationship with them. I think our hope is that at some point they say: "Why not just license the whole thing?""