HTC acquires Abaxia

HTC announced today to acquire Abaxia, a mobile software company for 13.2 m USD. Even though the deal is small amount, it indicates the strategic direction of the mobile industry. Mobile companies are increasingly vertically integrating the hardware and software designs to control the end user experience. Software deisgn and capabilities along with UI is how companies want to differentiate their products as hardware features are getting commoditized. Be it Apple, RIM, Nokia, HP or HTC now, each wants to control the way the content is experienced. This questions the future for horizontal software platform plays like Windows Mobile and Android as OEMS and handset manufacturers develop their own softwares.