The end for Windows 10 Mobile devices?
Microsoft’s latest quarterly financial results showed another massive decline in sales of Lumia devices and Windows 10 Mobile phones. Phone revenue declined 46% according to the company’s results. While many businesses are happy running iOS or Android devices, or using BYOD schemes, those with Windows Mobile hardware now find themselves facing a difficult choice.
We are confident that Microsoft will continue to support the platform indefinitely, and probably launch new high-end models for business users for a few more years, like the much-rumoured Surface Phone. However, those with existing hardware may find software upgrades and support harder to come by, as Microsoft pushes sales of new devices, and as that hardware becomes obsolete, upgrades will become more expensive.
Any company still running Windows Mobile devices, and not confident of their future as a practical hardware platform, should make plans to move elsewhere, ensuring compatible apps are available on other platforms. The good news is that Microsoft is highly platform agnostic when it comes to mobile, with the latest updates all applied to iOS and Android versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Skype for Business, OneDrive and other apps.
This means many businesses can pick up a new fleet of devices, install the apps, set up the user accounts and everyone can be on their way. The only concern is for businesses with some dedicated Windows apps that won’t exist on other platforms, or be complicated to port to. For those users, buying plenty of cheap Windows 10 Mobile hardware to provide a steady supply of replacement devices for years to come may be the easier route, or you should look at hiring developers to port your tools and apps to other operating systems to expand your options.
Whatever happens, Windows Mobile device sales are unlikely to recover and may fall into a tiny niche like that of BlackBerry. Microsoft may eventually even close down hardware production in the distant future, but will support the latest and future devices with software updates. Anyone with older devices needs to be planning to move now to prevent being caught up in a complicated, and possible more expensive, situation in years to come.
