Microsoft France reaffirms Windows 10 Mobile consumer exit, focus on Enterprise

“Windows Phone” is truly dead as Microsoft pivots away from all the things that made the original Windows phone special in a move away from the consumer market.

In an interview with the French paper “Le Point”,The new head of Microsoft’s France subsidiary – Vahé Torossian – reiterated the company’s talking point about being focused on building phones for businesses. Windows phones are just too much trouble to target to consumers, and that market was already dominated by iOS and Android anyway.  Instead, the firm will focus on making new phones and will support its own phones (except if they’re in the US, Canada or Australia) and those of third party manufacturers with updates and features.

The bottom line here is, Microsoft has given up on smartphones. Sure it may not say so in as many words, but the firm has effectively conceded what so many tech pundits have stated. It will make the OS as a side product of making Windows 10 for PCs and allow OEMs to work with it, but there’s no hope of it actually taking off. What Microsoft is hoping for is to be ready for the next technological paradigm to come around, whether it be wearables (not smartwatches it seems), hybrids, holograms or what have you and be there to ride the wave of innovation  when it comes

As for smartphones, consider this. Microsoft last year stated they would make low-cost phones, business phones, and enthusiast phones. The next time they spoke, it was business phones and enthusiast phones. Now, Microsoft is focusing on business-focused devices.

“Our strategy for Windows Phone is to focus on the part of companies, we are now out of the mainstream market”

Here we go again.