Windows Phone is Dead, Only Security Updates and Bug Fixes in the Future

Microsoft has finally admitted what mobile users have known for years- Windows Phone is dead as an operating system. The Android ecosystem is booming and iOS has the best selling smartphone in all the realm leaving Windows Phone with a tiny percentage of the mobile market. Microsoft’s Joe Belfiore has taken to twitter to break the news.

He tweeted that Windows 10 Mobile will only receive “bug fixes, security updates, etc,” in the future and that “building new features/hw aren’t the focus.” Betanews reports that Belfiore was asked by Twitter users if it was time for people to move on from Windows Phone and he said that he had already moved on. So yes, it is time to move on.

The big downside to Windows Phone or Windows 10 Mobile for most people was that there simply werent enough apps out there. The OS had such a tiny portion of the smartphone market share that most of the stuff that users would want wasn’t available. Belfiore also Tweeted, “We have tried VERY HARD to incent app devs. Paid money.. wrote apps 4 them.. but volume of users is too low for most companies to invest.”

I think Microsoft may be the only folks who are surprised that Windows Phone and Windows 10 Mobile never worked out. The smartphones with the features most people wanted were often priced along the lines of Android offerings and with the lack of apps for microsoft platforms it wasn’t even a choice for most users. There are some enterprise users who have rolled out Windows Phones to employees and Belfiore has said that Microsoft will continue to support those users.