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A recent article by UK's The Guardian suggests that Microsoft could abandon Windows Mobile entirely should its next version, Windows Mobile 7, fail to reverse the decline of its market share in the mobile device space.

Recent numbers give Windows Mobile a 7.9 percent share in Q3 2009, a drop from 11 percent in the same quarter a year ago. And things do not appear to be getting rosier with an increasing number of device manufacturers throwing their support towards other operating systems. Among these, HTC (Windows Mobile's largest partner) and Motorola both have plans to offer more devices powered by Google Android. In fact, Android's share has grown to 3.9 percent in the same period that Microsoft's dropped 3.1 percent. Add Apple and RIM's growing shares and it's clear that Microsoft has some fearsome opposition.

Should Windows Mobile's market share continue to decline, a number of analysts have speculated that Microsoft could simply stop developing Windows Mobile and possibly even withdraw entirely.

Personally, I don't see Microsoft abandoning the market. Instead, I would expect Microsoft to buy out a competitor like Palm or even RIM and take its strategy in a new direction if things do not improve in the next couple of years.