Windows 10 Mobile: Microsoft just put the final nail in the coffin
Video: Microsoft Lumia smartphones are a hit with police patrols
Microsoft has told its die-hard Windows 10 Mobile fans not to expect new features for the platform.
Joe Belfiore, Microsoft's vice president of Windows Experience, confirmed on Sunday that the company doesn't plan new features or hardware for the the Windows 10 Mobile smartphone platform.
"Of course we'll continue to support the platform.. bug fixes, security updates, etc. But building new features/hw aren't the focus," he wrote in a tweet on Sunday.
Belfiore, who previously led the team responsible for "Phone/Tablet/PC versions of Windows", revealed in August that he uses the Microsoft Edition of Samsung Galaxy S8, and now explained he switched to Android for the better choice of apps and hardware. This appears to be similar to what Bill Gates has done after admitting he'd switched to an Android phone filled with Microsoft software.
(2/2) As an individual end-user, I switched platforms for the app/hw diversity. We will support those users too! Choose what's best 4 u. https://t.co/LKQBL3w7gA
-- Joe Belfiore (@joebelfiore) October 8, 2017
It's not a surprise that Microsoft is scaling back Windows 10 Mobile after effectively killing off its smartphone devices business over a year ago, sacking thousands of people it took on from Nokia, and doubling down on Microsoft apps for iOS and Android. Microsoft dropped support for Windows Phone 8.1 earlier this year.
One of the key problems for Microsoft was the dearth of apps for its mobile platform. Belfiore said Microsoft had tried hard to attract developers, even to the point of building apps for them, but that there too few Windows mobile users for it to be viable.
"We have tried VERY HARD to incent app devs. Paid money.. wrote apps 4 them.. but volume of users is too low for most companies to invest," he wrote.
HP last week also revealed it would not continue building the Elite X3, probably the most well known third-party of a handful of Windows 10 Mobile handsets.
Microsoft's latest effort to keep Windows relevant in mobile is to bring the Windows 10 PC browser, Edge, to Android and iOS. The headline feature is "Continue on PC", which offers a simple way for users to share a web site, app, photo, and other information between a phone and a Windows PC. The feature is also available in the new Microsoft Launcher for Android, a revamped version of the Arrow Launcher it released in 2015.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has argued that the company isn't out of the mobile hardware business, insisting that its HoloLens augmented reality headset is a mobile device.
It's not a surprise that Microsoft is scaling back Windows 10 Mobile after killing off its smartphone devices business over a year ago.
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