[Sedp23]

Mobile is pretty much officially confirmed dead now.



https://twitter.com/thurrott/status/857692748719300610

[Grant Taylor3]

Sell the 950's have around 20 months more of support life. By then Windows 10 on ARM will be out and there should replacements for the 950's.

[RaRa85]

Hurts even though I switched to Android a couple years ago.

[TgeekB]

Microsoft's hardware phone business is dead. Mobile is not.

Sent from mTalk on my SP4

[kaktus1389]

Well, didn't see this coming from someone non-Microsoft. I hope this means something bigger is coming then and these are just mind games.

[libra89]

That's a bummer. :(

[Guytronic]

Kind of obvious mobile has been a no-profit venture for a while now.
Thing that makes me scratch my head is Microsoft continues to evade definition.

Evidently it's more fun to keep a running guessing game going.
I find this attitude from MS not very funny.

My thinking is no one in the lead at Microsoft wants to take any sort of responsibility.

[sd4f]

Is this the hardware side, i.e. what they bought off nokia, or is it the whole mobile thing, including the W10M OS?

[TrueMetalGeek]

If they hadn't bought out Nokia, maybe Nokia would still be developing awesome phones.

[Johnny Tremaine]

I suspect it's also W10M. Mary Jo Foley and Thurrott both essentially just said this, and furthermore, MJF says that any 'Surface' phone is not a certainty, a 'maybe' and way way off, 2018 at the earliest.

[Johnny Tremaine]

Kind of obvious mobile has been a no-profit venture for a while now.
Thing that makes me scratch my head is Microsoft continues to evade definition.

Evidently it's more fun to keep a running guessing game going.
I find this attitude from MS not very funny.

My thinking is no one in the lead at Microsoft wants to take any sort of responsibility.

This is probably due to contract responsibilities/business reasons, and avoiding damaging relationships with OEMs (ahem, HP) who Microsoft relies on, on the PC side. They likely don't want a repeat of the Kin cancellation, that forever poisoned Microsoft's relationship with Verizon, and left the carrier with virtually worthless stock of feature phones that they had to take losses on.
So, there'll never be some big public announcement that they're pulling the plug on W10M, but their actions, or lack of, have been saying that very same thing for some time now.

[PerfectReign]

And it is obvious that MS are testing other models. Only makes sense.

Check the source of Dona and Brandons tweets today.




Sent from mTalk

[sumton]

And it is obvious that MS are testing other models. Only makes sense.

Check the source of Dona and Brandons tweets today.


http://i.imgur.com/bparhKl.jpg

Sent from mTalk

They accepted the fact and switched to iPhone and some to android the problem is that some people here and in internet refuse to move on

[Drael646464]

What phone business? Are they still making phones, or selling ones they've made? I suppose this refers to the nokias? Well duh, nokia has been sold, they are making budget androids now.

[Drael646464]

I suspect it's also W10M. Mary Jo Foley and Thurrott both essentially just said this, and furthermore, MJF says that any 'Surface' phone is not a certainty, a 'maybe' and way way off, 2018 at the earliest.

Thurott is so cynical and depressive I suspect he needs anti-depressants. Or at least therapy. Reading his news reel is like drinking a forty ounce of "the future is boring, everything is hopeless, in fifty years there will be no new technologies, be cautiously optimistic and excited about nothing". Thoroughly myopic, hardly balanced in the slightest.

Third hand rumours should not be considered a source of anything. Only one that knows what the distant future of windows on mobile devices is, are the inner circles at MS. And if I were to hazard a guess, I'd bet they want to see how Cortana's skill apis, smart home intergration, windows cloud, windows on arm and scorpio do first. There are a lot of plans for larger screen devices, that COULD feed into a re-entering into mobile. I mean that is kind of the strategy here - create one OS, so that every platform leverages every other. That's only just coming into play with scorpio, windows on arm, windows cloud, this year. Its only really just fermenting, literally soon.

The whole play, that they started probably five years ago-- just now coming about. So will that lead to a substaintive rise in UWPs and UWAs? Cross development and development growth? Create a little momentum?

It should. Logically. Its a developers dream to code once for many devices, and a large audience. And if it does, mobile can be leveraged from say, cellular tablets, hybrids and consoles, which share the need for UWPs, touch friendly and simpler apps, and apps with mobility based functions, like chat, GPS and calling.

Common sense suggests this should open a path. But should for some weird reason it fail, it'd be pretty silly not to have other backup plans. A firm commitment to releasing a surface phone, or even having a finale form of phone would be premature.

The priority instead would be the software - software for smaller factors. A cshell for small mobile devices. That, I would consider a certainty regardless of mobile market share, or run away success with convergence - because convergence of OS across platforms is just a plan smart market strategy. Using development from one device catergory for another allows you to break ground in markets you'd never be able to otherwise. It allows you to leverage every win against every loss.

So, for myself, I am sure we will see a cshell for windows 10 on arm, for both watches and phones or other "with you at all times FF". Could be something weird or new first though. At some point, it'll come..

You can't really fully plan market strategy, without seeing how consumers respond. My strong suspicion is this - MS fully intend to re-enter mobile, have a few plans for that, but because of all the balls in the air, especially this year and next, aren't actually sure themselves.

I would very much doubt that any such phone if it comes will be business focused. Blackberry and windows 10 mobile has been doing that for years, and its been a total failure. Microsoft should know full well by now that business mobile space success is related to consumer space success. As should anyone else.

Consider you were planning a war. Not a single battle, but a war. How far ahead to you plan? How many variations of outcomes do you consider?

Same with a game of chess.

I think anyone who things even google or apple knows exactly what they will be releasing or planning for sure in two years is not quite on the ball. And for MS, they are playing A LOT of strategic plays, and long games. I am fairly sure that means they have "probabilities" and "potentials" in that timeframe, not plans.

[Drael646464]

This year is the more interesting thing to consider. Windows cloud is expected to be announced, the invoke released, Cortana skills api released, redstone 3, UI updates, the scorpio AND windows on arm. That's an extremely busy year for MS.

The end result of likely many many years of investment and development. A real output that matches all the big talk.

You want to see how MS will go, what its future is, this year and next are important ones to watch. There is a TONNE going on. And mobiles future, in terms of how it plays out, whether MS plays "pocket slabs" again, will very much depend on how these next two years play out.

For all the people crying "coming soon tm", well at the end of this year you get to be wrong or right. Most likely wrong IMO. But the exact implementation, how its greeted - this is more important than any fan speculation. This is the year the big play starts to kick in.

Please god tell me they splash a little on marketing :P

Buckle in for the ride :)

[Johnny Tremaine]

My point was, for all the people hanging on with their Lumia 930s/1520s and even 950s, waiting for a 'Surface' mobile phone or phablet, this year or next, the answer is: likely not, not in the next couple years.
I don't even see HP coming back with a sequel to the x3. I doubt those units sold in any meaningful numbers, at all, to justify that.

[walmit]

To my great surprise I learned that my Lumia 930 will not get the latest Creators update.
At the same time, Microsoft shut down (stopped) the production of Lumia.
I am greatly worried about the future of my favorite Windows mobile. What is Microsoft doing?

[Drael646464]

To my great surprise I learned that my Lumia 930 will not get the latest Creators update.
At the same time, Microsoft shut down (stopped) the production of Lumia.
I am greatly worried about the future of my favorite Windows mobile. What is Microsoft doing?

You can get it via the insiders preview. MS just made this available to those who missed out recently. Should be somewhere on the news page.

[Drael646464]

My point was, for all the people hanging on with their Lumia 930s/1520s and even 950s, waiting for a 'Surface' mobile phone or phablet, this year or next, the answer is: likely not, not in the next couple years.
I don't even see HP coming back with a sequel to the x3. I doubt those units sold in any meaningful numbers, at all, to justify that.

Well, dan or whatever his name is said, there was some list of planned new phones with hardware partners. He won't say what they are. He did seem to suggest no HP, indirectly.

Interesting mature markets had an upturn in marketshare this quarter. Might have been the 4s, but no one knows.

As for the surface in the next few years - Yeah I wouldn't count on it. Wouldn't count against it either, but it won't be this year if so.

Sort of depends on how well win arm etc goes.

I mean if MS gains significant tablet marketshare with LTE enabled devices via budget devices on ARM - that would push UWP and UWA, as might windows cloud.

And if that happened, they'd probably release a few new FF devices. But successful or not, its hard to guess growth rates, marketshare in new markets, without market testing. Or even what MS has planned after this year.

I might get my first win 10 mobile this year, if Cortana bots comes to it, and it is well received. For me, that could be more powerful than touch apps.

We will see.

One thing is for sure though - with premium sales winding down, its as time goes on, not a good time for a premium smartphone unless its a game changer. The boom is slowing down. In many ways, MS's strategy of "next big thing" is about to be more relevant commercially.

People ought to get used to the notion, that the smartphone market in general will be changing gears and looking to diversify and fight at price point.

And actually a cheaper windows mobile device if they decide to do one in time, might not be a stupid idea. As would some different FFs, like a proper smartwatch, and some real smart home intergration with its hardware partners harmon kardon and xiaomi.

Even with their windows on arm - it has come just on time, as cheaper hybrid offers are definitely overtaking the surface line (albeit the surface itself needs a refresh, and the book is pretty pricey by comparison)

[Paul Boland]

Just saw this article in PC World where Microsoft admits that by the end of this quarter, in June, Windows Phone sales will be dead. Sad...
Surface sales sag and Windows Phones fade, as Microsoft's hardware business takes a hit | PCWorld

[libra89]

It does make sense considering that their last phone release is more than a year ago.

[Grant Taylor3]

What did not help was people hanging on to their 3 year old devices and not upgrading to the 950's.



Had everyone who had an old Lumia gone out and bought a 950 then the platform might be in a better state.

[Sedp23]

What did not help was people hanging on to their 3 year old devices and not upgrading to the 950's.



Had everyone who had an old Lumia gone out and bought a 950 then the platform might be in a better state.

Everyone couldn't update to that phone there was alot of Verizon and sprint customers that couldn't use the phone

Sent from Idol 4s

[Danobe]

What did not help was people hanging on to their 3 year old devices and not upgrading to the 950's.



Had everyone who had an old Lumia gone out and bought a 950 then the platform might be in a better state.

Yes, yes. I'm quite happy with my 950, and unless it will be over two years from now (and the 950 still works - i.e. no spilled liquids), I won't be buying the next windows phone (first or third party). I am not buying phones to "save" a company or a platform. I'm buying and using a phone to get work done. When I feel it's getting long in the tooth, and there actually is a phone I feel would be worth it (i.e. increase my productivity), I will buy it. Not before that. The same goes for computers, and everything else. I don't necessarily need the latest. I alway buy at the top of a market at the time of purchase, in the expectation that it will last a while.

Obviously, that means being aware of what one's needs are, and being able to tell the difference between the latest and supposedly greatest, and what is actually the best item for one's needs.

Again, don't blame the frigging customers not buying anything and everything a company puts out in the market place. That's ridiculous. We are not mindless Apple customers who will often admit to be willing to buy anything as long it has an apple on it.

https://www.google.dk/search?client=...anything+apple