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Neowin: Microsoft's Windows Phone Business 'Is Dead' (neowin.net)
An anonymous reader quotes Neowin:
If you've been expecting Microsoft to issue a press release formally announcing the end of its Windows phone business, you're probably hoping for a bit too much. But make no mistake: its phone hardware business is dead. RIP-dead. Send-flowers-dead. Worm-food-dead. Some fans, and even some in the media, have consistently refused to acknowledge this, despite the clear signs in recent quarters. Now, Microsoft's own figures, and its statements regarding its phone division, should make it irrefutably clear that there is no life left in its Windows phone business.
During the quarter ending in December, Microsoft's phone revenue dropped to just $200 million, which included some sales of feature phones, before the company completed its sale of that business unit to Foxconn in November. That figure has now dropped to virtually nothing... Today, as Microsoft published its earnings report for Q3 FY2017, it revealed that its "Phone revenue declined $730 million". Based on its earlier financial disclosures, that means the company's phone hardware revenue fell to just $5 million for the entire quarter ending March 31, 2017. During Microsoft's earnings call today, its chief financial officer, Amy Hood, acknowledged this, stating that there was "no material phone revenue this quarter". The outlook for the next few months is similarly bleak, as Hood predicted "negligible revenue from Phone" in the coming quarter.
During the quarter ending in December, Microsoft's phone revenue dropped to just $200 million, which included some sales of feature phones, before the company completed its sale of that business unit to Foxconn in November. That figure has now dropped to virtually nothing... Today, as Microsoft published its earnings report for Q3 FY2017, it revealed that its "Phone revenue declined $730 million". Based on its earlier financial disclosures, that means the company's phone hardware revenue fell to just $5 million for the entire quarter ending March 31, 2017. During Microsoft's earnings call today, its chief financial officer, Amy Hood, acknowledged this, stating that there was "no material phone revenue this quarter". The outlook for the next few months is similarly bleak, as Hood predicted "negligible revenue from Phone" in the coming quarter.
I distinctly remember Gartner forecasting that Windows Phone would become the second most used smartphone OS, just slightly behind Android. Usually, their forecasts are super accurate even going 20 years into the future. And it was obvious at the time: Windows Phone had doubled its market share from 0.4% in 2011 to 0.8% in 2012. From this rich dataset, Gartner did they only sensible thing to produce a forecast: They assumed the same growth rate for the coming years and predicted 1.6%, 3.2%, 6.4%, 12.8% to 25.6% in 2017. Forecast for 2018 was 51.2% and for 2019 102.4%. Despite all the headlines, I think Microsoft are on track to achieve Gartner's 2019 forecast.
Successful phase 3. Extinguish.
Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.