From promises of timely updates with great features to opening up the platform for developers to port Android and iOS apps, Microsoft tried a lot to keep the smartphone business afloat. But now the reports suggest that the company is set to kill the Lumia phone by the end of the year.
Reportedly, a source from Microsoft told the website WinBeta, that the company is set to wrap up the smartphone business by the end of the year and will not release any Lumia phones thereafter. But later the company can enter the smartphone business under a new strategy and a new brand name.
Microsoft has tried to woo the consumers with features such a "PC in the pocket" which allows you to turn your phone into a Windowns 10 machine with a monitor, a keyboard, and a mouse. Apart from that it also has Continuum, a feature that allows users to carry on their work from mobile to PC seamlessly.
Despite this, the lack of apps on the Windows store has moved the users away from the platform. A recent report from Gartner suggests that, Windows phone market share in the second quarter of 2016 has been just 0.6% as compared to 2.5% in Q2 2015.
The company has been offering permanent discount on their current offerings. At some places they are giving out a smartphone free on the purchase of one unit.
Right now, Microsoft has four Lumia phones in the market namely Lumia 550, Lumia 650, Lumia 950, and Lumia 950 XL. It intends to sell all the units until the stock lasts.
Lumia phones were first introduced in 2011. Later in 2013, Microsft acquired Nokia for €3.79 billion and in 2014 the company decided to drop the Nokia branding from the Lumia phones. Microsoft's new CEO Satya Nadella has not been happy with the acquision done by Steve Balmar. The company has fired several employees in June and July from its smartphone division.