Microsoft’s mobile efforts have declined significantly and they seem to have impacted HP’s plans for the Elite x3. The HP Elite x3 is a Windows-powered smartphone that’s a productivity powerhouse. It was very well received by professionals who require that level of functionality from their mobile devices. HP had a lot of plans for its Elite x3 lineup but it had to ditch those plans because Microsoft lost interest in mobile.
HP’s EMEA head Nick Lazaridis was speaking to The Register at the Canalys Channels Forum in Venice where he mentioned that HP had to drop its plans for expanding the Elite x3 ecosystem because Microsoft “decided on a change in strategy.”
He mentioned that HP wanted to release several Elite x3 branded products. There were rumors of a successor to the original handset for some time as well but one never materialized.
“Given that, we also had decided that without Microsoft’s drive and support there it doesn’t make sense. If the software, if the operating system ecosystem isn’t there then we are not an operating system company,” Lazaridis added.
It was recently rumored that perhaps HP would stop selling the Elite x3 by November but the company came out and said that it’s going to sell the handset through 2019. So even though it’s not expanding the ecosystem, HP will keep selling the handset for a couple of years before it says goodbye to the Elite x3 for good.
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