14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft published its earnings report for the second fiscal quarter a few hours ago, and unsurprisingly, the company hasn’t provided any information on the performance of its mobile unit, which has already been hit by major declines in the last months.
Yet, in the firm’s earnings call with analysts, Microsoft reveals what most Windows phone fans already knew, but which is still painful to hear from the software giant itself: the platform collapsed during the quarter and it’s no wonder why.
Microsoft has remained completely tight-lipped on its mobile vision, so besides the fact that potential customers turned to Android and iOS, increasingly more developers decided to leave the platform and remove their apps from the Store.
Microsoft says Windows Phone revenue dropped 81 percent, which is disappointing to say the least, although the software giant itself does not provide any specifics on how exactly the division performed during the quarter.
But look at it this way: if Microsoft previously sold 10 Windows phones, this quarter the company sold only 2. And it’s hard to believe that anything can change without Microsoft becoming more transparent in what it plans for the mobile business.
Here comes the Surface Phone
Now, obviously, everyone puts their hopes in the Surface Phone, a long-awaited device that’s supposed to reignite interest in the platform. And yet, Microsoft hasn’t even commented on the possibility of launching the Surface Phone, although it did say that it wants to build “the ultimate mobile device.”
People familiar with the matter said that Microsoft was targeting a late 2017 release for the Surface Phone, but again, nobody knows for sure if this is true or not.
In the meantime, fewer users find a reason to stick with Windows phone, especially because everyone seems to be leaving these days. Windows 10 Mobile itself is evolving, but without devices that could put its best features in the spotlight, and obviously without apps, it’s hard to compete with the giants.
Market research firms put Windows Phone at approximately 0.5 percent, well behind Android with more than 80 percent and iOS with nearly 20 percent.