Microsoft’s Windows Phone has failed to capture the hearts and minds of the great unwashed smartphone buying masses, even if it has managed to carve out a little corner of the sales pie chart to call its own. Unfortunately for Microsoft though, that little bit of market share isn’t going to cut the mustard moving forward, especially with the acquisition of Nokia expected to move the mobile division of the Redmond firm onto the next step.
With Windows Phone building towards a new big refresh, Russian blogger and historically accurate tipster Eldar Murtazin has been tweeting about where he thinks Microsoft will be taking its Windows Phone platform in the future. Specifically, Windows Phone 9.
Murtazin says that he believes Windows Phone 9 will be available some time during the second half of 2014, but most importantly he suggests that Microsoft will drop that iconic Metro / Modern interface that is the platform’s current calling card. In fact, Metro / Modern has become so central to Microsoft’s plans of late that it has found its way onto Microsoft tablets, desktop PCs and even the Xbox 360 and Xbox One gaming consoles which makes the idea of it being killed off rather surprising.
The belief is that when Windows Phone 9 launches, it may not be the only big change to the Windows ecosystem. According to Murtazin, Microsoft will kill Windows RT completely, with the new Windows Phone being used across all mobile platforms in a similar way to how Apple uses iOS on both its iPhones and iPads. Reports have previously suggested that Windows RT would be rolled into Windows Phone by 2015, so all the pieces are beginning to fall into place.
Microsoft clearly needs to make changes to its smartphone business if it is to compete with the likes of Apple and Google, as well as its plethora of hardware partners. Dumping Metro / Modern UI and taking a new direction might not be the way to go about it, but with a new CEO on the horizon at Microsoft and the company in a state of flux, these are sure to be an interesting 18 months or so for anyone interested in the company’s fortunes.
We’re just glad we don’t own shares!
(Source: Eldar Murtazin [Twitter])
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