14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft is slowly turning from the owner of Windows 10 Mobile to an important Android device retailer, as it keeps adding new models running Google’s mobile operating system to its offering in the Microsoft Store.
After bringing the Samsung Galaxy S8 to the Microsoft Store earlier this year, Microsoft recently started selling the Razer Phone as well, both in physical stores and online. And now the software giant is adding a third Android device to the list, as the Samsung Galaxy Note 8 can be purchased from the Microsoft Store as well.
While this could be part of Microsoft’s original partnership with Samsung that included the Galaxy S8, the company uses the same approach as for the other Android phones that landed into its own stores, using the product listing to highlight some of its Android apps, including the launcher.
Microsoft’s mobile push
The weird thing is that it appears Microsoft did a pretty awful copy-paste job, as the Note 8 listing includes information that actually mentions the Samsung Galaxy S8, and not the bigger model.
“Now you can purchase a Samsung Galaxy S8 device and personalize your phone with the Microsoft Launcher It's an app that includes favorites like Word, Excel, Onenote, Cortana, Outlook, and more. You can get the Microsoft Launcher in the Google Play store,” Microsoft says on the Galaxy Note 8 page (emphasis is ours).
But despite this, Microsoft has every reason to talk big about its Android apps, as they’re part of the only mobile push that the company still seems to be committed to. While no new features and hardware are planned for Windows 10 Mobile, Microsoft wants instead to invest in apps and services for Android and iOS, and this plan appears to be paying off already.
Microsoft Launcher for Android, for instance, has already reached 1 million users, while apps like Outlook and SwiftKey continue to be among the most downloaded titles on iOS.