Windows Phone Thoughts: HP, Dell developing Microsoft Smartphones

"Both Dell and Hewlett Packard appear to be making forays into the Microsoft Smartphone arena. A report said that both companies have asked a number of Taiwanese manufacturers to give them quotes for phones, said Digitimes. Those include HTC – which makes the Orange slow booter, Mitac, Compal, Asustek, Quanta and Inventec, the newspaper claimed. But it's unclear whether these companies would accept quotations to make Smartphones, given the low price tag on these devices."

The importance and long-range impact of news like this can't be underestimated - it's key to Microsoft's attack on the phone market. Microsoft has commoditized the market, very much in the same what they did with the PC, drastically reducing the time and resources it takes to bring a phone to market. Nokia isn't just going to be competing against Orange and other carriers - they'll be up against anyone with a brand and the desire to make a phone. Today that might be HP and Dell. Tomorrow it might be the Chicago Bulls and Burger King. Think it sounds crazy? Just wait and see what happens over the next 24 months...