Microsoft vows never to make a mobile

And is going to keep charging for phone platform

1 October 2008 13:36 GMT / By Katie Scott

Microsoft supremo Steve Ballmer has blown any hopes of a Microsoft mobile out of the water.

In an interview with Reuters, he said that analysts predicting the computing giant will enter the mobile phone market are wrong.

"I do not anticipate us building a phone. Sorry, we are not going build one", Ballmer said.

The statement was made following a press conference in which Ballmer, when quizzed about free mobile phone platforms like Google Android, stated that Microsoft is going to buck the trend and continue charging.

To add even more pressure, Nokia is offering to buy out other manufacturers from Symbian in order to make its software royalty-free too.

But Ballmer says that Microsoft is going to carry on charging licensing fees for Windows Mobile.

"We are doing well, we believe in the value of what we are doing", he said.

He then took a swipe at Google adding: "It's interesting to ask why would Google or Nokia, Google in particular, why would they invest a lot of money and try to do a really good job if they make no money. I think most operators and telecom companies are skeptical about Google".

And then Nokia, quipping: "In the case of Nokia - are they really open sourcing, or are they really making Symbian their own operating system? We have to wait and see".

"Handset makers are skeptical of Nokia, operators are skeptical of Google, I think by actually charging money people know exactly what our motivations are", Ballmer concluded.

Microsoft currently charges $8 to $15 per phone, according to Strategy Analytics.