Microsoft Exec Says Windows 10 Mobile Hardware Is No Longer A Focus

In the early days of mobile operating systems, Microsoft threw their hat into the ring with Windows Mobile, Windows Phone, and more recently Windows 10 Mobile. Unfortunately despite Microsoft’s best efforts, their Windows mobile operating system never quite took off, which is why we’re not surprised at the latest news.

In a recent tweet by Microsoft exec Joe Belfiore, it seems that he has confirmed that Windows 10 Mobile is taking a backseat at the company (via Windows Central). When asked about the company’s plan for supporting the platform, Belfiore wrote, “Of course we’ll continue to support the platform.. bug fixes, security updates, etc. But building new features/hw aren’t the focus.”

This seems to echo the sentiments of various industry analysts who suggested that Microsoft could eventually exit the hardware business and just focus on software moving forwards. There have also been rumors that suggested that Microsoft might have a Surface Phone in the works, but based on this tweet it certainly doesn’t sound that way anymore.

Belfiore also wrote about how Microsoft tried to get more devs to write apps for its mobile platform, but the low volume of users seemed to discourage companies from investing their resources. “We have tried VERY HARD to incent app devs. Paid money.. wrote apps 4 them.. but volume of users is too low for most companies to invest.” It is unclear if Microsoft will eventually kill off its mobile OS for good in the next few years, but for now it seems that maybe we shouldn’t expect too much from it.

Tyler Lee
Categories: Cellphones
Tags: Microsoft, Windows, Windows 10