Steve Ballmer disses iPhone, praises openness

Then came a spot of iPhone-related complaining, with de la Vega claiming Apple's handset would be even more successful "if there was commonality about where the applications could work".

"The iPhone has a nice app platform," Ballmer said. "People are downloading. But most of these are really front-ends to websites."

Microsoft announced its own mobile application marketplace on Monday, although details remain sketchy.

Ballmer then pointed out that, with the iPhone, "you can only get it from one hardware maker, with their choices and their price points". He contrasted this with the approach of Windows Mobile and Symbian, both of which allow the operating system to run on a variety of different handsets.