So much for the “2017 is going to be a cool year for phones”

Sep 9, 2016 06:36 GMT  ·  By

The Surface Phone is believed to be the next best thing for Microsoft in mobile, and people with knowledge of the matter previously said that it could see daylight in the spring of 2017.

And Microsoft itself kind of teased this early 2017 release, promising Windows phone fans to make 2017 a “cool year for phones,” but without saying anything specific. With the focus on PCs this year, switching to phones next year would make sense for Microsoft, and the Surface Phone was an important plan in this strategy.

But it turns out that this strategy might suffer a few last-minute adjustments, as Microsoft is now said to be considering a delay of the Surface Phone until late 2017 or even early 2018.

Microsoft watcher Mary Jo Foley writes that Redmond is currently working on the Surface Phone and has several plans, and “if they do not materialize, [the launch] could be considerably later.”

Microsoft still tight-lipped on everything mobile

Furthermore, German site Dr. Windows adds that early 2017 is a potential release date for the Surface Phone, as Microsoft is believed to be having a component issue and is still pondering several hardware plans for the new model. This reminds of the Nokia McLaren, a project that got scrapped for somewhat similar reasons, so it will be interesting to see how Microsoft deals with this new problem.

Without a doubt, this is not at all good news for Windows Phone fans who have been expecting something exciting from Microsoft for many months now, even though the company has remained completely tight-lipped on its mobile plans.

And even now, Redmond refuses to disclose anything related to its mobile vision, even though the rumor mill is pointing to a pretty pessimistic future for Windows phones, with Microsoft believed to be giving up on the Lumia brand entirely and switching focus to just one device, the Surface Phone. And with the Surface Phone launch pushed back to late 2017 or early 2018, it’ll be very hard for Microsoft to convince its existing userbase to stick around for that long.