There’ve been rumours circulating that software giant Microsoft entered the telephony market.

Most of the rumours that were based on Redmond coming up with a Zune phone, which will aim at killing off of Apple’s iPhone. However, it seems that Microsoft could have set sights a little lower.

Microsoft and MediaTek have said they formed a strategic alliance to provide a rich multimedia smartphone designed primarily to emerging markets.

The kit will be built on the Windows Phone 6 platform. They’ll be multimedia rich smartphones and will have full touch capabilities and offer advanced communication features.

MediaTek said its partnership with Microsoft will boost the penetration of smartphones in developing countries.

The interesting move is suggests that Microsoft is leaving the smartphone field in the West to Apple. Apple didn’t get into the Chinese market and has not had much success in India. Redmond may be thinking that if they can sell enough of the gear to the cheaper markets it’ll not have to waste time and money chasing the Jobs’ Mob marketing machine.