Microsoft's Phones In The Pipeline

It has been confirmed that Microsoft is working on its own branded Windows phone. This confirmation comes two months after the company acquired Nokia for $7.2 billion.
A senior executive at Microsoft said that part of the company’s strategy is to become a devices and services company but so far there has been no mention of a launch date.

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Director of the Windows Phone Business Group, Microsoft Corporation, Vineet Durani said, “We are waiting for regulatory clearances on the Nokia deal to merge the devices and hardware business, with Microsoft’s software business. The Microsoft-branded phone is under review, but in the meanwhile we continue to work with our partners like Huawei, Samsung and HTC for Windows OS handsets.”

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It has been reported that as part of the deal between Nokia and Samsung, the name “Nokia” moves over to Microsoft for mobile use for ten years, as well as the Lumia and Asha brands. It was even hinted that Lumia handsets would not carry the Nokia brand tag in the future.

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Anshul Gupta, principle research analyst at Gartner said that few have succeeded in beating Samsung and Apple when it comes to the handset market. So will Microsoft be able to succeed where Nokia failed?
“While it is difficult to comment on how Microsoft would perform with its own branded handset, considering that we haven’t seen much  from them as a hardware player. By taking over Nokia, they will gain the device assets and manufacturing capabilities of an experienced global player, that puts them on par with other global players, and therefore in a better place than they were earlier,” said Gupta.

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