Microsoft Surface Phone Release Date Update: Device No Longer Coming After All?
In light of the news that Microsoft has officially declared the Windows 10 Mobile dead, users are now wondering about the fate of the ever-elusive Surface Phone.
The Redmond giant has hinted in the past that they are still looking to create smartphones, but ones that they deem more than just about stripping the bezels and doubling the camera.
However, it seems that this is bound to change. Unless the Microsoft Surface Phone will find its way out eventually, the latest and possibly the last Windows 10 phone is the HP Elite X3.
There have been reports that a follow-up to it was in the works but HP has suggested that the company is no longer working on the mobile segment of Windows 10, which means that even the Microsoft Surface Phone could be off the table too.
HP EMEA chief Nick Lazaridis confirmed in an interview with The Register that there will be "no further development work" on the mobile OS from the company and that support for the HP Elite X3 had to be axed too:
Microsoft, as all companies do, decided on a change in strategy and so they are less focused on what they thought they would be focused on today.
Despite Microsoft seemingly abandoning all its efforts to return to the mobile scene, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said early this year that they are bound to dive back into it.
When you say we'll make more phones, I'm sure we'll make more phones, but they will not look like phones that are there today.
It was understood that the mobile device they will come out with is something with huge upgrades and features with actual impact on the performance and experience, which is also what leaked patents for handsets have suggested the company has been trying to develop.
But as Forbes pointed out, weeks or even days can change the fate of a device and it has been months since Nadella said these words, making it possible that he might have a different opinion on the matter now.
The Microsoft Surface Phone was expected to be the saving grace for the company that will allow them to return to the mobile competition.
However, it seems that the mobile scene for the company at the moment is just about continuing to "develop Windows 10 Mobile and support Lumia phones such as the Lumia 650, Lumia 950, and Lumia 950 XL, as well as devices from our OEM partners."