Earlier this week, Microsoft France unveiled a new leadership team with Vahé Torossian, previously Corporate Vice President, Worldwide Small, Mid-market Solutions & Partners Group as the new President of the subsidiary. Today, the new exec give an interview to French publication Le Point where he reiterated that Microsoft would no longer target Windows phones to consumers for now.
According to the new exec, Microsoft is acknowledging that iOS and Android phones are currently more attractive for consumers today and that’s why the company is now focusing its mobile efforts on enterprise customers. Furthermore, the exec added that the company is waiting for a “technology leap” to make its big come back on the mobile market in a few years. Here is a summary of his statements (translated from French):
Our strategy for Windows Phone is to focus on enterprise customers, we are now out of the mass market. The entrance ticket to the mass market smartphones is now too high, we are betting on a technology leap in a few years with a paradigm shift. During this transition period, we won’t stay in the consumer smartphone market.
Of course, none of this is actually new as other Microsoft execs previously explained that Windows 10 Mobile was not Microsoft’s priority this year, even though the company is committed to support the platform in the long run.
Following Build 2016, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella also shared that Continuum was still a Windows 10 Mobile exclusive feature and we’ve already seen HP leveraging it to create its “3-in-1” business-focused Elite x3 handset.
Lastly, the Redmond giant clearly explained this week at an Ignite 2016 session called “Discover what’s next for Windows 10 Mobile” that it would keep supporting its mobile OS and its ecosystem of hardware devices including first-party devices. While the new Microsoft France President did not comment on rumors about a much anticipated Surface Phone, he did say that “the Surface product line is meant to evolve into new types of form factors.” As a reminder, Microsoft is reportedly planning to introduce new Surface hardware including a Surface all-in-one PC in an upcoming event in October.
