14 DAY TRIAL // Rumor has is that Microsoft plans to discontinue the Lumia brand as part of its reorganization of the mobile division, but some models are still up for grabs in the company’s stores across the world.
And yet, it appears that the firm has just made a major step towards the demise of the Lumia brand, as its flagship Lumia 950 XL has been deleted, not listed as out of stock, in its official UK store.
In other words, the Lumia 950 XL disappeared completely from the store, nearly two months after it was labeled as out of stock. As Neowin reports, the smaller Lumia 950 is not available anymore either, so in case you’re looking for a flagship Lumia in the United Kingdom, third-party retailers might be your only option.
At this point, Microsoft still has four Windows phones in the UK store, but only one is in stock, namely the HP Elite X3, which continues to be available in most markets in Microsoft stores.
Microsoft’s mobile plans
As it happened every time, Microsoft remains completely tight-lipped on everything mobile, so although the Lumia 90 and the 950 XL are no longer up for grabs in the United Kingdom, it’s still impossible to tell if this is the end of the Lumia brand or not.
As far as availability of Lumia flagships in other markets is concerned, both the Lumia 950 and 950 XL were out of and back in stock several times.
On the other hand, it’s believed that Microsoft is struggling to clear out inventories of the Lumia models in order to switch focus to the super eagerly-anticipated Surface Phone, which should see daylight sometime later this year (if it really exists, as Microsoft hasn’t confirmed it either).
For what it’s worth, Lumia phones continue to be available at third-party retailers, but with such an uncertain future, it’s hard to believe that customers would rush to buy them. It remains to be seen if Microsoft says anything about its mobile vision in the coming months, for the sake of Windows phones, it had better come up with something really exciting.