Microsoft Finally Gave Up on Windows Phone; Official Documents Confirm

We’ve known for a while that Microsoft doesn’t care too much about Windows phones these days, but this time it’s official. Not as in Microsoft provided us with a statement official, but as in 10Q SEC filing official, which Microsoft needs to file every quarter after its earnings report.

Documents published by Microsoft for Q3 come with a little change from the previous quarter, and as spotted by DrWindowsPhone, the mobile platform isn’t getting any new improvements.

As you can see in the screenshot included in this article, in Q2 Microsoft planned “significant improvements in research, development, and marketing for existing products, services, and technologies, including the Windows operating system, […] and Windows Phone.”

For the next quarter, Windows Phone is no longer listed as a platform getting investments, and this is just another sign that Microsoft is giving up on this platform.

As we’ve told you last week, Microsoft also confirmed in the call with financial analysts after the earnings report that it “expects negligible revenue” from Windows phones the next quarter, and this is mostly because no new hardware is planned.

Furthermore, there are also rumors that the company is planning to complete the Windows Phone wind-down by June, which is at the end of the current quarter, so it becomes clearer that Microsoft is trying to step away from mobile, at least in its current form.

On the other hand, there are hopes that Microsoft still wants to remain a player in the mobile business with Windows 10 on ARM, a new project that was unveiled late last year and which makes it possible to run the full version of Windows 10 on ARM chips.

Although this is expected to power laptops and PCs, Windows 10 on ARM could also create a new category of phones, which would have the capability of running Win32 programs when connected to a bigger screen.