Microsoft is looking to increase their market share in the smartphone market, naturally. Just as naturally, they hope to continue the trend of doubling the number of devices running WM every year. It's not mentioned in the story, but presumably an announcement like this one is intended to help create an anti-iPhone talking point. Apple may be aiming for 1% of the marketplace, but MS is aiming a little higher. That's the idea, anyway. Microsoft only has a month or so before the iPhone drops like a ton of bricks on the marketplace, so it's in Microsoft's interest to try to define the rules of success (i.e. numbers and marketshare) before it hits.

Microsoft, Tuesday said it plans to double the number of mobile phone software licenses it sells worldwide to 20 million in fiscal-year 2008, as it takes on rivals Research In Motion and Symbian.

Read: Microsoft To Ship 20 Million Windows Mobile Licenses in 2008