Microsoft admits its smartphone efforts are dead and even tried to pay developers to write apps
Microsoft is no longer developing new hardware of features for Windows 10 Mobile
By Arjun Kharpal
Microsoft is no longer developing new hardware or features for Windows 10 Mobile, the smartphone version of its flagship operating system, effectively killing off its presence in the handset market.
In a series of Tweets, Joe Belfiore, Microsoft’s corporate vice president of Windows, said the U.S. technology giant will continue to release bug fixes and security updates, but not any new hardware.
Belfiore said Microsoft has tried “very hard” to incentivise app developers, even by paying them, but admitted the volume of users on Windows 10 Mobile is too low.
Microsoft has struggled in the mobile market over the past few years. It acquired Nokia’s mobile business in 2013 , a move that has since been seen as a failure. In 2015, it took a US$7.6 billion write-down on its Nokia business and axed thousands of jobs.