Amidst the large-scale changes it is making to Nokia, Microsoft has announced that it will switch certain Nokia X Android devices to its Windows Phone OS.
The change was revealed in a memo, by Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, announcing up to 18,000 job cuts – the largest in the tech giant’s history.
The statement read:
“To win in the higher price tiers, we will focus on breakthrough innovation that expresses and enlivens Microsoft’s digital work and digital life experiences. In addition, we plan to shift select Nokia X product designs to become Lumia products running Windows. This builds on our success in the affordable smartphone space and aligns with our focus on Windows Universal Apps.”
This doesn’t necessarily mean that Microsoft plans to kill off the Nokia X line of Android devices altogether. However, in the wake of the dramatic changes, its future seems uncertain.
The original Nokia X devices were developed before Microsoft’s acquisition of the Finnish mobile manufacturer and left many wondering whether they would see the light of day post-buyout.
Despite speculation, Microsoft did allow them to go ahead with the latest Android-based handset – the Nokia X2 – which hit shelves in June. Some analysts even praised the move as a smart strategic ploy to divert Android users to Windows Phone handsets via the phones’ Microsoft-influenced UI.
Nonetheless,as this move shows, Microsoft’s experiment with Google’s OS has been oddly cut short.
