This week Eclipse announced its Pulsar initiative which is a plan for a unified environment for developers to streamline application development for RIM, Motorola, Nokia and Sony Ericsson devices. The idea is to allow developers already skilled in using Eclipse to more easily develop mobile applications. Pulsar will also make it easier to build one application for multiple devices, although it is not a write once run anywhere technology.
This is a very smart strategic move for the participating vendors for a few reasons:
1) It minimizes one of Windows Mobile's primary advantages
2) It helps defend against the iPhone, especially in the enterprise space
3) A common development environment will help drive economies of scale for developers and fuel growth.
One of Microsoft's fundamental advantages in the mobile space, and throughout the software industry for that matter, is the multitude of Microsoft trained developers. This fact has helped to drive sales of Windows Mobile devices. Windows developers skilled in using Visual Studio do not need to learn a whole new development environment to develop apps for Windows Mobile. More skilled developers and apps drives the adoption of software platforms. While Eclipse does not have the same amount of penetration in the mobile market as Visual Studio, which is the most commonly used environment, the launch of Pulsar will threaten the dominance of Visual Studio and Windows Mobile.
The unbelievable success of the iPhone is having significant impact in all strategic decisions in the mobility space and the announcement of the Pulsar initiative is no different. The iPhone is seriously threatening RIM's bread and butter, the enterprise market. By participating in the Pulser initiative RIM and other participating device vendors will give developers and enterprises more flexibility, reducing vendor lock in and making it easier for enterprises to chose their devices. The ability of enterprises to leverage Eclipse trained developers for mobile apps also puts Apple at a disadvantage to participants of the Pulsar initiative.
This flexibility is also important for application vendors in the enterprise market. Applications are often specialized and reaching economies of scale by developing one application for one device is hindering the growth of the segment. More productive developers targeting multiple devices will lead to better economics for mobile application vendors. Better economies and common tools will help drive growth for the entire industry.
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