14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft has recently confirmed what we already knew: the Band smart wristband will be discontinued, as the firm is focusing all of its efforts on the Health platform and not on hardware.
In the last few weeks, reports coming from sources with knowledge of the matter have been hinting at an imminent demise of the Band, with many claiming that the company was struggling to clear out inventories of the second generation and then stop sales completely.
No Band 3 “this year”
This is what is happening right now, with Microsoft confirming in a statement there are no plans to launch a new Band this year, while the focus will be switched to the Health platform with support for Windows, iOS, and Android.
“We have sold through our existing Band 2 inventory and have no plans to release another Band device this year. We remain committed to supporting our Microsoft Band 2 customers through Microsoft Stores and our customer support channels and will continue to invest in the Microsoft Health platform, which is open to all hardware and apps partners across Windows, iOS, and Android devices,” a company spokesperson said in a statement.
And while this comment might leave room for hopes that the Band could return at some point, this is very unlikely the case, as sources from within the company claim that Microsoft has already disbanded (no pun intended) the team working on the third generation. The plan was to bring Windows 10 IoT on the device, but this experiment failed and Microsoft decided to cancel the project altogether.
There’s still hope of a Microsoft smartwatch, though, with many believing that the Surface division, which will also build the Surface Phone, would develop a new wearable that could be simply called the Surface Watch. However, these are just hopes for the time being, and although they would make sense, there’s still no sign that Microsoft is looking into this direction anymore.