Panos Panay promise new form-factors but no Surface Phone in the future

The saga of Microsoft’s folding tablet continues, with a new interview with Panos Panay published last week on the 13th July surfacing today.

In the Wired interview, the head of Surface gets asked directly if a Surface Phone is in Microsoft’s plans. He was initially quite evasive, speaking about changing form factors adapting to users, and being able to switch easily from pen to keyboard, but eventually answered directly “Well, I would not say that that includes a Surface Phone.”

He noted that there was not an unmet need in Microsoft’s product roadmap and line-up for a Surface Phone, stating directly that new form factors would not include a Surface Phone.

The interviewer, Lauren Goode, continued to press to ask if the Microsoft will work towards a smaller, LTE-enabled Surface device that could also be a phone.  Panos countered that future Surface devices would be used as communication devices but not in the traditional sense as communication itself will evolve.

Many have insisted in the past that while Microsoft’s Andromeda device would be able to make phone calls, it will not be a phone in a traditional sense, something that the interview bolsters, but the downside of this is of course that if Microsoft’s foldable device cannot replace your current smartphone it will have difficulty finding its way to many pockets, which may explain why the device was reportedly sent back to the drawing board this year.

The relevant segment can be heard here.

Via Reddit.com