We expect XQuery to become the de-facto standard for XML databases for the next few years, if not the millennium. We doubt it very much. We can only speculate. What we do know is that the world needs a query language that meets the requirements that XQuery has set out to meet, and XQuery itself is best positioned to fill that need in the short run. The software industry sometimes appears to have a lot in common with the fashion industry.
Technology development is cyclical, with mature ideas showing up again in new guises.
It would seem that storage of XML data is better suited to hierarchical or OO databases than relational. We do, however, partner with ISVs in numerous industries to further the development of solutions for vertical markets. These include, for example, media, healthcare, financial services, supply chain management, mobile computing, portals, document management and logistics. As a company that prides itself on our understanding of XML, we've had to get involved to some extent to learn how these vertical market specs relate to the infrastructure specs and to our products. Likewise, most healthcare professionals don't spend their working day sitting at a desk with a PC on it, so the only way for IT departments to directly capture data is via mobile devices.