Microsoft Swears It’s Not Making Windows Phone 8 Hardware
After Microsoft introduced its own Windows 8-based Surface tablet last week, riling its hardware partners, and shortly thereafter unveiled Windows Phone 8, the obvious next question is whether or not the company would make its own phone, too.
Information Week confirmed in an interview with Greg Sullivan, senior marketing manager for Windows Phone, that Microsoft will not be building a phone for Windows Phone 8. So there you have it--a solid “no”.
That has to be good news for the handset makers already committed to developing hardware for Windows Phone 8--HTC, Huawei, Nokia, and Samsung--who were probably none too pleased to see Microsoft wedge its toe in the mobile hardware market with Surface.
Of course, just because Microsoft says that it’s not making its own phone doesn’t mean that it’s true. Further, that may be a clever way of skirting the fact that the company might just snap up struggling Nokia and get its own handset business that way.
Such an acquisition would make sense right now; Nokia mostly bailed on its homegrown Symbian OS as well as Meego in favor of the Windows Phone platform, and the Finnish company is currently in dire straits. With Nokia’s present value so low, Microsoft could get itself a terrific financial deal; acquire loads of talent, intellectual property, and patents; and snag itself a built-in handset maker to boot.
Information Week confirmed in an interview with Greg Sullivan, senior marketing manager for Windows Phone, that Microsoft will not be building a phone for Windows Phone 8. So there you have it--a solid “no”.
That has to be good news for the handset makers already committed to developing hardware for Windows Phone 8--HTC, Huawei, Nokia, and Samsung--who were probably none too pleased to see Microsoft wedge its toe in the mobile hardware market with Surface.
Of course, just because Microsoft says that it’s not making its own phone doesn’t mean that it’s true. Further, that may be a clever way of skirting the fact that the company might just snap up struggling Nokia and get its own handset business that way.
Such an acquisition would make sense right now; Nokia mostly bailed on its homegrown Symbian OS as well as Meego in favor of the Windows Phone platform, and the Finnish company is currently in dire straits. With Nokia’s present value so low, Microsoft could get itself a terrific financial deal; acquire loads of talent, intellectual property, and patents; and snag itself a built-in handset maker to boot.
