BIRMINGHAM, United Kingdom-British mobile-phone maker Sendo filed a lawsuit against its former business partner Microsoft Corp., a move that further illuminates the reasons behind Sendo’s decision to dump Microsoft’s smart phone software in favor of that from Microsoft rival Nokia Corp.
According to media reports, Sendo’s lawsuit alleges Microsoft had a secret “master plan” to rob the company of its technical expertise, market knowledge and customer deals in order to expand its desktop computer software strategies into the wireless market. Sendo alleges Microsoft failed to fix the bugs in its mobile-phone software and forced Sendo to incur unexpected costs, pushing the company to the brink of bankruptcy. Sendo’s lawsuit asserts Microsoft used the information from its partnership with Sendo to help further its mobile-phone partnerships with other companies.
Sendo officials declined to comment on the filing, except to say that the suit’s allegations are “serious and substantial.” Microsoft did not return calls for comment.
Just weeks before it planned to ship phones using Microsoft’s software, Sendo in November made an abrupt about-face and licensed Nokia’s Series 60 smart phone platform. Sendo said at the time that Microsoft denied the company access to the software’s source code, while Nokia allowed source code access.
Shortly before Sendo changed sides, European carrier Orange released the first smart phone running on Microsoft’s software through manufacturer High Tech Corp.
