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Our esteemed editor in chief, Chris Leckness, just posted an excellent response to the spreading assumption that the Motorola Droid will someone be the nail in the coffin of Windows Mobile. Like him, I find that concept to be simplistic and silly and born out of marketing speak, not reality. You see, the mobile telephony market has simply become obsessed with “killers”.

These days, every new smartphone is here to “kill” some other smartphone. Whoever coined the term “iPhone Killer” really needs to be hurt badly with a microwave antenna. At first any phone with a large touchscreen was dubbed an iPhone Killer, then of course the Palm Pre was the first major contender to the iPhone’s throne, next the Moto Cliq, now the Motorola Droid, maybe the Xperia X10 in a couple weeks. The Droid has not only been dubbed an “iPhone Killer”, but a “Pre Killer” and yes, a “Windows Mobile Killer” as well…quite the natural born killer is the Droid.

Or is it? Are any handsets really dying at the hands of these ”killers”, or is it just macho marketing speak? Is the telephony world really so “red of tooth and claw”?

Personally I agree with the stance that Nokia has taken regarding mobile operating systems, admitting the fact that there is room for everyone. Each of the major operating systems will have supporters, each market niche and region will have certain phones that cater to it.

For example, there is no question that the iPhone rules the consumer market in the US, but not so much the consumer market in Europe and the UK, where Nokia and Sony Ericsson have a stronger presence. The iPhone has yet to be a factor in the Enterprise market anywhere, where Windows Mobile Blackberry and Symbian still are the Operating System’s of choice. Android has a chance of making a strong showing in the Enterprise and is already showing itself to be a force as a consumer OS. Like Android, Palm is fighting to make difference in both the consumer and Enterprise markets simultaneously.

I don’t see any of these Operating Systems disappearing any time soon, certainly not for a few years at least. They will rise and fall and jockey for position certainly, but for all the speed with which hot new handsets are released and disappear, Operating Systems tend to move a good deal more slowly. Roadmaps and vendor strategies don’t change direction so easily.

Concerning Windows Mobile…I don’t see Android taking too much of it’s Enterprise market share yet, if ever. IT departments are used to WinMo and S60, they are not likely to start messing about with their security and provisioning systems unless they have a very good reason, and even then it will happen incrementally. Thus far, Android (and especially the Droid) is mainly doing damage, as near as I can tell, in the “Anything but an iPhone” consumer niche which the Palm Pre and Pixi have been trying to dominate. No way to tell if that will continue or not, but it has been clear for awhile that no phone not designed in Cupertino would convert the iPhone faithful, even as they admit the Droid is in some ways superior to the iPhone and is overall a solid device. The mobile telephony market is too diverse for there to be any one “killer” phone, no matter what the fanboiz and marketing spiels may say.

Sure Windows Mobile is on a downswing at the moment, marking time with Windows Mobile 6.5 and waiting for a bounce from Windows Mobile 7. Will they get it? No way to tell yet, but I doubt even another fiasco will “kill” the OS, it is just too entrenched in IT departments and it does what the Enterprise needs it to do. It is maligned now, but all Windows Mobile needs is a few popular handsets to be reestablished on the top tier.

Consider the HTC HD2. HTC is reporting very strong demand for the impressive WinMo 6.5 handset and admit that it is currently driving their profits. The smartphone is so popular in Europe that HTC is not able to keep up with demand at the moment according to HTC CEO Peter Chou. Plus in the popular new Verizon Christmas ads recently reported on by Keisha, in which AT&T and the iPhone take some more body blows, Windows Phones such as the HTC Imagio and the Samsung Rogue are featured. That doesn’t sound like Windows Mobile is at death’s door or is being counted out by vendors, no matter what the blogosphere may say.

Before anyone starts fitting Windows Mobile for a coffin, or says that the Droid is hammering in nails, remember that the market is still volatile enough that one or two popular handsets can revitalize an OS or vendor. Just look at Motorola, two months ago it was being left for dead but now people are saying the Droid is a killer. Don’t be surprised if some clever marketers in Redmond are already working out who Windows Mobile 7 will be able to “kill”…red of tooth and claw indeed.