14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft is sending all kinds of mixed signals on the future of phones as first-party hardware, and after CEO Satya Nadella said earlier this week that the company is very keen on building more smartphones, corporate vice president Yusuf Mehdi now suggests the focus is on Android and iOS.
In an interview today, Mehdi has explained that Microsoft is all-in on mobile, but added that this involves making all of its applications available on Android and iOS, without providing any mention of Windows phones.
“The way I think about mobile-first is we’re all in on mobile in the sense that all of our software will run on any device that you own, so Office will run on an iPhone and Android, Minecraft will run on iPhone and Android, our management tools will run across all those devices,” Mehdi said.
“So we embrace the world as we see it today, which is people using multiple devices, and they use Windows PCs and laptops and notebooks.”
“The ultimate mobile device”
While Mehdi hasn’t said anything about Windows phones, creating “software that will run on any device that you own” includes Windows 10 Mobile devices as well, though without first-party hardware and support from OEMs, this category is shrinking as well.
On the other hand, CEO Satya Nadella says Microsoft will build more phones in the future, but explains these won’t be similar to what we have on the market these days, suggesting that the firm is aiming at inventing new product categories, just like it did with the rest of the Surface lineup.
The next Microsoft phone, which could be the eagerly anticipated Surface Phone, could thus be more than just a typical mobile device, with Redmond probably trying to offer it a new form factor that would extend its capabilities. Rumor has it that the Surface Phone could be able to convert into a laptop, though nothing has been confirmed so far.
Judging from the existing speculation, the Surface Phone should see daylight in the fall of 2017 (very unlikely though) or in early 2018.