The Windows Phone never really made much of an impact. Microsoft's corporate VP for Windows Joe Belfiore recently suggested there would be a shift in focus with the building of new features no longer being a priority for the Redmond giant.
A lack of apps and developer interest signalled its eventual decline, but now with the Windows 10 platform coming to mobile devices, albeit in a larger form factor, Microsoft may yet earn itself a stronger place in the mobile market -- building not on the Windows Phone, but vendors looking to adopt Windows 10 in mobile through Qualcomm chips.
Nunes also expects that this new kind of design will prompt innovation as vendors which already have existing mobile phone form factors will be able to take the blueprints and run with them as laptops.
The first designs from Asus to be available as early as this December, while other vendors will follow suit and offer their own product ranges from 2018.
An upcoming model from Asus is the NovaGo, a 13-inch laptop equipped with Windows 10 S, a Snapdragon 835 processor, up to 8GB RAM and 256GB storage.
Another laptop on the horizon is HP's Envy x2, a 12.3-inch device which comes with the same processor, Windows 10 S -- and the option to switch to Windows 10 Pro -- up to 8GB RAM and 256GB storage.
Given Qualcomm's position in the mobile, IoT, and silicon industries, Broadcom has been keen to acquire the company.
Last month, in related news, the semiconductor giant offered to acquire Qualcomm in a deal worth $130 billion, including debt, representing $70 per share in cash and Broadcom stock. However, Qualcomm said the proposal "significantly undervalued" the company, but Broadcom has not gracefully accepted the rejection.
This week, Broadcom announced plans to nominate a slate of 11 individuals to replace Qualcomm's existing board at the company's 2018 Annual Meeting of Stockholders, due in March 2018. to put pressure on the US chip firm to talk.
In return, Qualcomm said the plan "is a blatant attempt to seize control of the Qualcomm board in order to advance Broadcom's acquisition agenda."