14 DAY TRIAL // Windows Phone still has a future in Microsoft’s vision, at least that’s what CEO Satya Nadella said in his internal memos to company employees, but as far as Microsoft analysts are concerned, this is just the beginning of the end for Redmond’s mobile platform.
Many say that Microsoft is making baby steps to get out of the mobile business, and today’s announcement that the focus would be switched to value phones, business devices and flagships is the first thing that the company needs to do before exiting the industry completely.
Windows Phone is currently at 3 percent market share worldwide, and Will Stofega, program director at market research firm IDC, estimates that it will rapidly drop to 0 percent in the coming years.
“It looks like the curtains are being drawn,” he said. “It’s not looking good.”
“Windows Phone’s death is inevitable”
Jan Dawson, chief analyst at Jackdaw Research, says that, despite the fact that Microsoft might be trying to keep Windows Phone alive, its demise is inevitable, and the mobile operating system is very likely to get the axe in the coming years.
“It isn’t abandoning its own devices or Windows Phone yet, but I think that’s inevitable.”
Information coming from within the company indicates that Redmond is looking to build its own phones for at least two more years, which indeed puts the future of Windows Phone in balance. Windows 10 Mobile could thus become a turning point for Microsoft, which can decide, depending on the success of the new platform, whether it will continue in the smartphone business or not.
Daniel Ives, analyst at FBR Capital Markets, says that Windows Phone’s demise was concluded with the acquisition of Nokia’s Devices and Services unit, but Microsoft will struggle to keep its platform alive.
“They're going to continue to be a tertiary player in mobile unless something dramatically changes,” Ives said. “Nokia was that Hail Mary acquisition that was clearly a failure.”
As far as Microsoft is concerned, Windows Phone is still a critical product, but there’s no doubt that Satya Nadella is now trying to undo some of the mistakes that his predecessor Steve Ballmer made at the helm of the search giant. Whether this would also involve the demise of Windows Phone remains to be seen.