14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft is reportedly planning to get rid of the Lumia phone brand as soon as this year and the company has just made one significant step towards this goal.
Reports coming from the United Kingdom are indicating that Microsoft is no longer offering replacement units under warranty for those who bring in defective units, mostly because the company has already cleared out inventories for the majority of its stores in the country.
Production of new Lumia models stopped approximately one month ago, sources say, and given the company’s recent efforts to sell as many units as possible in the shortest time possible, stocks are no longer refilled and buyers seeking replacements are left with no option.
Microsoft is believed to be planning to discontinue the Lumia brand in December, as it switches focus to the Surface Phone, the firm’s new high-end model that is expected to debut in 2017. Official details are not yet available, but recent reports have indicated that the company is planning to debut the phone in 2017, either sooner or later in the year.
Not a big surprise
But as far as Lumia’s demise is concerned, this doesn’t come as a big surprise. Rumors regarding Microsoft’s plans to give up on the Lumia brand reached the web shortly after the debut of the Lumia 650, with people familiar with Microsoft’s plans indicating that this was the last model of the Lumia lineup, as the focus switched to the Surface Phone.
Microsoft, on the other hand, has never confirmed the existence of the Surface Phone, so while the company is indeed doing some silent changes, nobody can tell for sure if this new model will ever see daylight or not.
But even if it doesn’t, Microsoft says that Windows 10 Mobile will continue to exist and the company will fully support partners who want to build devices running it. For the moment, however, the number of partners doing it is still limited, so it remains to be seen if Microsoft can change this in any way with the upcoming software updates.