[nextparadigms]

There are Android smartphones that go for $50 in Africa. And they will be down to $30 by the end of this year. Now that's an affordable smartphone. Do they really think $150 is affordable in Kenya? That's like a high-end device for them.

And there are plenty of Android devices from $50 to $150 and beyond, too. Microsoft is in no danger of "winning" Africa.

[brudgers]

Microsoft appears to have some interest in a long term smart phone strategy which entails treating it as a general computing device - e.g. TouchDevelop. Currently, Google appears to be moving in a different direction centered around online services.

Because Microsoft sells its OS it can make money when hardware is sold. Google cannot do that with its current offerings.