Windows Phone 10 is projected to see daylight next year

Oct 14, 2014 14:33 GMT  ·  By

Back in early October, when Microsoft officially presented Windows 10 Preview, the company also revealed that Windows Phone 10 was projected to see daylight in early 2015 in testing form, while the stable version would be shipped to users later the same year.

Needless to say, consumers and organizations relying on Windows Phone right now are really keen on seeing the upcoming update on the market as soon as possible, but there are some analysts across the world who believe that, despite all these efforts, the Windows 10 rollout might not have a positive impact on the smartphone platform.

Tim Bajarin, founder and chief analyst for Creative Strategies Inc., says in an interview with TechTarget that both Android and iOS remain incredibly strong on the mobile OS market, and although Windows 10 is expected to come as a breath of fresh air for Windows Phone, this is unlikely to happen.

The reason is as simple as it could be: Windows 10 was designed from the get-go to address complaints on the desktop and laptops, so Windows Phone might be more or less neglected in the upcoming release.

Microsoft must convince users to try Windows Phone

The analyst believes that Microsoft’s biggest issue on Windows Phone is the way users see the mobile operating system, so the company should “get the word out and motivate users to try it.”

Indeed, Microsoft needs to make Windows Phone a bit more appealing, but at the same time, to continue investments in hardware and new devices that would better compete with flagships running Android and iOS.

In some markets, however, Windows Phone continues to be far behind rivals Android and iOS, with comScore data for the month of August pointing to a market share of 3.5 percent for Microsoft’s mobile OS. Android currently leads the market with 52 percent, while iOS is the runner-up with 42 percent.

Windows Phone will also get its own batch of improvements

Although the analyst’s statements make sense until one point, there’s no doubt that Windows Phone 10 will also come with its own pack of improvements, but it’s obviously too early to discuss about such a scenario.

Windows 10 Preview indeed focuses on the desktop more than before, but the company said from the very beginning that this was just the very first testing version of the operating system and was specifically released for PC users, but this doesn’t necessarily mean that the same approach would be used for the final product as well.

A testing version of Windows 10 for tablets is likely to be released in the next few months, while Windows Phones should get it in early 2015. Word has it that the full build could go live in spring 2015, possibly together with the desktop OS.