Microsoft bought Nokia for $7.2 billion in 2013. Microsoft released their Windows-based Lumia smartphones which were going okay but in the end, they did not go as well as Microsoft hoped. Nokia’s Symbian OS was a total disaster and after that, the fall of Nokia started and Samsung and Apple started emerging to the top.
After Nokia, Microsoft Has Given Up on Lumia
Microsoft made a good start in 2014 with some new Lumia smartphones having Microsoft brand name on them. The Lumia 535 was the first handset under the Microsoft brand name. It had dual SIM support, Windows 8.1 OS which is upgradeable to Windows 10 and a decent 1.2GHz quad-core cortex A7 CPU. It also featured a respectable 5.0 IPS display, 1GB RAM and 8GB internal storage.
The Nokia Lumia 535 is one of the most successful Windows phones to date. However, there were also some software issues with the Lumia 535 regarding its touchscreen which was a software bug that was later resolved through an update. Microsoft released the Windows 10 based Lumia 950 and Lumia 950 XL last year. The Nokia Lumia 950 and Lumia 950 XL had great specifications. But still, there are some issues with the Windows Phone platform such as lack of apps, the restarting problem and more. Many of the issues got fixed through an update, though.
In the last four months of 2014, Microsoft sold 10.5 million Lumia smartphones which is highest in the history of Lumia phones. While Apple sold 61 million iPhones. The Windows Phones only made 2.7% of the total market shares. Companies like Lenovo, Huawei, LG made a huge blow to Microsoft’s Lumia smartphones. They made remarkable sales in the Asian markets which damaged Lumia’s sales even further.
Microsoft already sold their Lumia business to Foxconn, in addition to some other Nokia assets for $350 million in Vietnam. The company is going to lay off 2,850 staff members by next year in July. Microsoft only sold 1.4 million Lumia phones in the last four months
With no details about new upcoming Lumia phones, it seems like Microsoft is going down in the smartphone business. However, their Windows Phone OS is still improving. Anyhow, it’s indeed sad to see that Microsoft has given up on Lumia.
Despite rumors there has not been a formal statement from Microsoft that there will be a retirement of Lumia smart phones. There are leaks coming out of Microsoft that the Lumia brand of Windows smart phones sales will end December 2016 and in late 2017 the new Surface brand of Microsoft Windows 10 mobiles smart phones will debut and target to be sold to Businesses like the HP Elite X3 is now. all
Microsoft execs are very tight lipped about GIVING OUT any info about any future Microsoft products. At the 2016 MS Ignite event the Windows 10 mobile spokes People there said Microsoft would support windows 10 mobile and MS VP Myerson said “New Devices are coming” but did not say what kind of New dices are coming.