That sounds crazy, I know. And that intro may have you chomping at the bit. But before you get all hot and bothered, note that I'm making a few points abundantly clear:

Microsoft has a mobile strategy.

That strategy has been unsuccessful.

That strategy is still more or less on course.

What needs to be understood is that there is and has always been a distinction between Microsoft having and executing a mobile strategy and the state of success or failure of that strategy. In other words, an assertion that Microsoft has and is executing a mobile strategy is not an assertion that that strategy is succeeding or will succeed.

It is simply an analysis of what Microsoft's vision is, the vision's desired outcome, the steps toward that goal, and a view of the plans executed within the context of the real world.

Windows on telephony-enabled pocketable devices

Pocket PC 2000, a Windows CE-based mobile OS was Microsoft's early foray into the mobile space. It powered what were essentially telephony-enabled PDAs.

This pared-down version of Windows had a UI visually reminiscent of the desktop UI, Start menu and all. It was not mobile-friendly by today's (or arguably the year 2000's) standards. The tiny icons and menus required the use of a stylus. It was Windows on a pocketable device, nonetheless, and represented a partial achievement of Microsoft's Windows on all form factors and Pocket PC vision.

Microsoft has always wanted to replicate desktop power on mobile.

Pocket PC became Windows Mobile 5.0 (and persisted through 6.5) and continued bringing the familiar power of Windows, including Office, to the pockets of business users and techies. It's important to remember these devices existed within a context when PCs, not the later app-centric mobile model, defined personal computing. That's not to say there was no Windows Mobile app ecosystem. Like desktop Windows programs, apps existed but were not in a centralized marketplace. Users had to find and download apps from potentially unsafe websites until Microsoft finally created a Marketplace.

Windows Mobile smartphones were, for their time, powerful pocket PCs. PC-centric tasks such as emailing, messaging, web-surfing, file management, app usage and more had been achieved by this version of Microsoft's mobile OS.

Microsoft's mobile vision was on course.

Mobile computing shifts from a PC focus

In 2007 and 2008, Microsoft's enterprise-focused mobile direction was disrupted when Apple's and Google's consumer-focused smartphones resonated with consumers and developers. The mobile app ecosystem's birth and carrier relationships helped mainstream these non-PC-focused mobile devices.

Microsoft responded with the consumer-focused, touch-friendly Windows Phone 7 mobile OS.