Microsoft Surface Phone Release Date Rumors: Will Windows Mobile OS Poor Market Performance Affect Next Smartphone Launch?

Microsoft has yet to announce the highly anticipated Surface Phone. However, reports already fear that the poor market performance of the Windows Phone operating system might make Microsoft decide to cancel the project.

REUTERS/Thomas MukoyaA Microsoft delegate checks applications on a smartphone during the launch of the Windows 10 operating system in Kenya's capital Nairobi, July 29, 2015.

In recently released statistics from research firm Gartner, the Windows Phone OS holds a measly 0.3 percent market share translating to around 1.09 million devices worldwide.

The report was rounded up in the fourth quarter of 2016 where Google's Android remained strong on top with an 81.7 percent market share that is equivalent to more than 352 million mobile devices. Apple's iOS sits on the second spot with a 17.9 percent market share or more than 77 million units.

While the dominance of Android and iOS is quite expected, it is not still a justification for Microsoft's Windows Phone OS. Their 2016 statistics are worse than their 2015 marks where there used to be more than 4.3 million units installed with the said OS from Redmond, Washington. Gartner reported that Microsoft used to hold 1.1 percent of the global market share last year. 

Reports like those from Auto World News and Tech Times present the possibility that the poor performance of the Windows Phone OS in 2016 might convince Microsoft to ditch their smartphone plans all at once and just focus on areas where the company is performing better.

However, it is important to note that these reports are contrary to the latest official statement of Microsoft chief executive officer Satya Nadella about the company's prospects in the field of mobile devices.

Back in November 2016, Nadella told the Australian Financial Review that they do not intend to leave the phone market, saying, "We will continue to be in the phone market not as defined by today's market leaders, but by what it is that we can uniquely do in what is the most ultimate mobile device."

Added to that, there are surrounding rumors that a 2017 announcement of the Surface Phone is still possible. There have been reports that Microsoft is wisely taking their time before they let their "ultimate mobile device" into the wild. And with the stiff competition in the field of phone market, that decision is highly understandable.

Source: Microsoft Surface Phone Release Date Rumors: Will Windows Mobile OS Poor Market Performance Affect Next Smartphone Launch?