That article reads like a misread from a car-tech site, for whom it was somehow surprising that Microsoft wasn't going to launch a new phone of their own at this year's MWC. No one, no where, no how thought Microsoft was bringing a "Surface Phone" to this year's MWC. So thanks for that, whomever you are!
Besides, the article says, "[FONT=georgia, times new roman, serif]Microsoft said that the Surface Phone idea is a highly interesting one and they may consider it in the long future to come". If ever we stay above ground long enough to see this "long future to come", we will doubtless have Surface Phones implanted on our foreheads.
Microsoft has gotten a lot out of the Surface program. A case could be made that Surface, Surface Pro, Surface Book, Surface Studio has revived the entire segment, not through direct Microsoft sales, but by showing other manufacturers the enduring potential in the platform, if you have new ideas. They seem also to be doing something similar with Hololens priming the new-market pump for augmented reality devices. Despite there not being a 2017 version of Hololens. As that segment is still emerging, it may be a case of pushing too fast, too soon if Microsoft were to push out new devices now. Obviously smartphones are a difficult play for Microsoft now, with Android and Apple sucking up all the oxygen, so they want to be careful when and if they dip their own toes back in. They don't want to compromise the cache and value in the Surface name brand with a device that might not fly, even if brilliantly executed. [/FONT]