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Yahoo CEO Bets on Windows Phone as Third Platform

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After reports that Yahoo’s newest CEO and former Google alum Marissa Mayer would be transitioning the company’s fleet of issued smartphones to iPhone, it appears that early speculations were largely true. Mayer has now issued a memo to Yahoo employees allowing users to choose between three different mobile operating systems to select their company-issued phone of choice: Google’s Android OS, Apple’s iPhone, or Microsoft’s Windows Phone 8.

Business Insider reports that the list of smartphones offered include:

* Apple iPhone 5
* Android:
– Samsung Galaxy S3
– HTC One X
– HTC EVO 4G LTE
* Windows Phone 8:
– Nokia Lumia 920

We’re getting started right away and taking orders starting now.

1286829129_5a131f07e9_zOriginally, as Mayer has been a loyal iPhone users dating back to her days even while at Google, it was believed that Mayer would select Apple’s platform as the platform of choice for her fellow employees. However, it appears that the ‘Smart Phone, Fun Phone’ memo’s given selections were made and designed to allow employees to mirror the smartphones used by a majority of Yahoo users.

A few weeks ago, we said that we would look into smartphone penetration rates globally and take those rates into account when deciding on corporate phones. Ideally, we’d like our employees to have devices similar to our users, so we can think and work as the majority of our users do.

Yahoo, which has had a difficult time in the Internet space recently with competition from Google, wanted to transition its fleet of company-issued smartphones from BlackBerry to a more modern OS to reflect the interest, tastes, and experience of users while visiting any of Yahoo’s Internet destination. This way, employees can be more passionate about designing Yahoo for the mobile experience and can account for any nuances on how Yahoo’s Internet properties may be displayed between various OSes.

The jump from BlackBerry would be a big loss for Research in Motion, which has seen slumping sales of its platform recently. The addition of Windows Phone 8, and in particular the Nokia Lumia 920, is a solid bet for Microsoft and Nokia, both of which are trying to gain traction as being the third major platform of choice with Google and Apple leading the race.

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