And even then they may have been a bit player if Microsoft had not flinched and thrown out their existing PocketPC platform to ship Phone 7.
Keep in mind that PocketPC was not just used for "consumer" phones, but also all kinds of hand held terminals in warehouses and such.
This was a market that Microsoft basically abandoned when they announced that Phone 7 and onwards would not be compatible with PocketPC software, even though they tried to extend a fig leaf by rebranding PocketPC 6.5 as Phone 6.5 (i think HP tried to sell a couple of PDAs with that).
Didn't take long before we saw alternatives out there, though these days i think they are mostly Android based.
Keep in mind that PocketPC was not just used for "consumer" phones, but also all kinds of hand held terminals in warehouses and such.
This was a market that Microsoft basically abandoned when they announced that Phone 7 and onwards would not be compatible with PocketPC software, even though they tried to extend a fig leaf by rebranding PocketPC 6.5 as Phone 6.5 (i think HP tried to sell a couple of PDAs with that).
Didn't take long before we saw alternatives out there, though these days i think they are mostly Android based.