Microsoft's Struggle With Smartphones

Commentators on technology today are suggesting that the initiative for innovation has shifted decisively from Microsoft Corporation towards Apple and Google. And my view is that the technology industry does not easily lend itself to very specific forecasting about outcomes and market dominance. Consider that a decade ago, many of the same pundits were convinced that Microsoft was almost secure in its dominance and that this could be extended from PCs towards other market segments.  Ashlee Vance of NYT confirms that Microsoft seems to be having a problem with getting a foothold with younger consumers to whom its smart phones were directed.  

What nobody would have been able to foretell is that at the time, one of Microsoft's perceived strengths may have contributed towards undermining its strength in smart phone technology leadership. This is because the insistence on keeping a closed platform for its products means that new programmers used the more open platforms that have come to dominate. It appears that this has almost made Microsoft absent as a platform for innovation and creativity for this market segment. and the moral of the story is that there is no perfect strategy n business and a strategy that leads to success may be the very Achilles Heel of a corporation. Is Apple taking note?