Certainly looks like so! It’s either the end, or a brand new beginning for Windows Phone. The past couple of months have been a rollercoaster ride for the mobile OS.
Starting with the news that its market share started to collapse in markets where it had good standing, to Microsoft selling its feature phone business to Foxconn. And earlier today the company announced a new round of layoffs that sees 1,850 workers going home.
Goes without saying that the situation couldn’t be direr — there’s that word again!
But in an email sent to employees this morning, Terry Myerson, the Executive Vice President of the Windows and Devices Group, said that this is not by any means the end of the Windows phone platform.
The senior executive said that although the phone success has been limited, the company is ready to be more focused in the phone hardware efforts.
On top of that, Microsoft will continue to support its current Lumia and OEM partner phones, while at the same time developing great new devices.
Hints of the Surface Phone here, perhaps?
He further goes on to explain that both Android and iOS remain key focuses for Microsoft’s mobile efforts and the software giant plans to improve its products already available on these platforms.
You can read the full email from Terry Myerson below:
To: Microsoft – All Employees
From: Terry Myerson
Date: Wednesday 5/25, 2AM Pacific Time
Subject: Focusing our phone hardware efforts
Team,
Last week we announced the sale of our feature phone business. Today I want to share that we are taking the additional step of streamlining our smartphone hardware business, and we anticipate this will impact up to 1,850 jobs worldwide, up to 1,350 of which are in Finland. These changes are incredibly difficult because of the impact on good people who have contributed greatly to Microsoft. Speaking on behalf of Satya and the entire Senior Leadership Team, we are committed to help each individual impacted with our support, resources, and respect.
For context, Windows 10 recently crossed 300 million monthly active devices, our Surface and Xbox customer satisfaction is at record levels, and HoloLens enthusiasts are developing incredible new experiences. Yet our phone success has been limited to companies valuing our commitment to security, manageability, and Continuum, and with consumers who value the same. Thus, we need to be more focused in our phone hardware efforts.
With this focus, our Windows strategy remains unchanged:
Universal apps. We have built an amazing platform, with a rich innovation roadmap ahead. Expanding the devices we reach and the capabilities for developers is our top priority.
We always take care of our customers, Windows phones are no exception. We will continue to update and support our current Lumia and OEM partner phones, and develop great new devices.
We remain steadfast in our pursuit of innovation across our Windows devices and our services to create new and delightful experiences. Our best work for customers comes from our device, platform, and service combination.
At the same time, our company will be pragmatic and embrace other mobile platforms with our productivity services, device management services, and development tools — regardless of a person’s phone choice, we want everyone to be able to experience what Microsoft has to offer them.
With that all said… I used the words “be more focused” above. This in fact describes what we are doing (we’re scaling back, but we’re not out!), but at the same time I don’t love it because it lacks the emotional impact of this decision. When I look back on our journey in mobility, we’ve done hard work and had great ideas, but have not always had the alignment needed across the company to make an impact. At the same time, Ars Technica recently published a long story documenting our journey to create the universal platform for our developers. The story shows the real challenges we faced, and the grit required to get it done. The story closes with this:
And as long as it has taken the company, Microsoft has still arguably achieved something that its competitors have not… It took more than two decades to get there, but Microsoft still somehow got there first.
For me, that’s what focus can deliver for us, and now we get to build on that foundation to build amazing products.
Terry
Time will tell what the future has in store for Microsoft in the key mobile domain.
But this much is certain.
The days of 2012 are long behind us now!
source:windows10update
