Satya Nadella promises the ultimate mobile device again

May 3, 2017 05:25 GMT  ·  By

Microsoft doesn’t talk too much about Windows 10 Mobile, but when it does, it always reiterates its commitment to the platform, saying that it’s working with partners on building more devices that would help expand the ecosystem.

But as far as first-party hardware is concerned, the software giant has remained mostly tight-lipped, with some rumors even indicating that the firm was planning to discontinue the Lumia brand and focus entirely on the software side of its mobile efforts.

In a recent interview for MarketPlace, however, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella says the company will definitely build new phones, though they won’t look like the phones that are currently on the market.

“I’m sure we’ll make more phones”

Nadella says Microsoft is planning to embrace a strategy that’s similar to what they did with the Surface lineup, so what they’re trying to do is to invent new product categories. This is why Microsoft’s future phones won’t look like phones, Nadella says.

“We make phones today, we have OEMs like HP making phones and others and we picked a very specific area to focus on which is management, security, and this one particular feature that we have called Continuum, which is a phone that can even be a desktop,” Nadella said.

“And at this point, we’re making sure that all of our software is available on iOS and Android and it’s first class, and we’re looking for what’s the next change in form and function. What we’ve done with Surface is a good example. No one before us thought of 2-in-1s and we created that category and made it a successful category to the point where there are more 2-in-1s coming. And that’s what we want to do,” he continued.

“So when you say we’ll make more phones, I’m sure we’ll make more phones, but they will not look like phones that are there today.”

Even though there are no specifics available at this point, Nadella’s statements align with previous rumors pointing to a new form factor for the Surface Phone that would allow it to double as a laptop using Continuum. Unfortunately, there’s still no word as to when the new phones built by Microsoft could arrive, but reports in the past pointed to a target date of fall 2017 or early 2018.