Microsoft are cutting back on the number of Lumia handsets that they release each year, in an attempt to help grow the mobile Windows ecosystem.
Microsoft made some pretty hefty cuts to it company this week, laying off up to 7,800 employees. Many of them came primarily from the phone business acquired from Nokia, leading many to believe that the company was scaling back its smartphone ambitions and admitting defeat.
That rumour can today be put to rest, after an internal email detailed that their plans are still very much involved with mobile. The memo was sent by Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella to all employees and revealed a fundamental restructuring to shift focus on the entire ecosystem rather than specific sectors.
Going forward, Microsoft will be spearheading the ‘one Windows for all’ idea which spans a single operating system that can be adapted to any device. Windows chief Terry Myerson will take over the entire Microsoft device business including Xbox, Surface, Lumia and newer hardware such as the Hololens.
As such, the company has decided to streamline its mobile portfolio to accommodate the shift. Bloomberg reports from a source that Microsoft are planning to cut back the Lumia division to only six devices a year, which each one having a clear place in the product line-up. The current Lumia range has been criticised for being somewhat convoluted, with confusing naming conventions and far too many similarly specified devices that compete with one another.
Under the new plans, the company will focus on three primary categories: budget phones, phones for business and corporate users and true flagship handsets. Windows Phone has always lacked a true flagship that can stand feature-for-feature against the competition but this could change as soon as the Lumia 940 XL hits the market. With a Snapdragon 810, 3GB RAM and a 1440 x 2560 QHD panel, it can easily match the big guys going forward.
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