Report: Microsoft to “end sales” of Lumia handsets this year

Over the last 6 months we have seen Microsoft cut the price of their Windows 10 Lumia handsets, including their flagship devices  by half, and hold multiple Buy One, Get One Free sales. These have suggested to us already that Microsoft has halted production of the devices and were trying to reduce their inventory levels.

Now Winbeta.org reports from an unnamed Microsoft insider that the company is ‘preparing to “end sales” of the range this year, December 2016′.

We have of course seen Microsoft de-emphasizing their Lumia range, removing it from one of the navigation menus on their US online store for example, and even last year Microsoft has made it clear that they wished their OEMs to take over the hardware side of the business.

We have seen some new Windows phones arrive from OEMs, with the highest profile device being the HP Elite X3.  It is however doubtful whether this will ever bring us back to what now appears to be the high volume business of the end of 2014.

There is of course always the hope of the Surface phone, but another report from yesterday suggests this device may have itself been pushed back to the end of 2017.

Do our readers think Windows Phone will end meaningfully when Lumia ends or will 3rd party OEMs keep it alive? Let us know below.