Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella Admits Discontinuing Windows Phone Was A Mistake

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella recently admitted that the company's decision to give up on Windows Phone and mobile was a mistake, becoming the third Microsoft CEO to admit the company has made some major mistakes on the mobile phone sector.

Although Windows Phone OS was considered one of the best Smartphone OS, Microsoft's attempt to be at the forefront of the smartphone industry failed.

Understandably, the software giant decided to discontinue Windows Phone (later Windows 10 Mobile) in 2017. Windows Phone ousted the traditional home screen in favour of futuristic Live Tiles and the OS was super smooth and easy to use.

After its entry into the smartphone market, Windows Phone gave Android and iOS a run for their money, In fact, the Lumia 520 turned out to be one of the best-selling phones of all time.

Likewise, the Nokia Lumia 920, 1020 and the Microsoft Lumia 950XL managed to garner huge popularity among photography enthusiasts. These handsets were capable of capturing some amazing photos.

On the downside, the Windows Phone OS was rebooted several times. In fact, Windows Phone 7, 8 and some other models were not able to get the updated OS. As a result, these devices continued running on older OS.

Learning from their mistake, Microsoft rolled out Windows 10 Mobile to most phones. Windows 10 Mobile came with exciting features like continuum and UWP app, but the real problem of Windows Phone was App availability.

Microsoft went on to discontinue its smartphone division in 2017 citing waning interest from developers and declining sales. Some industry experts criticised the move at the time. Moreover, Windows Phone fans were also devastated, but Microsoft was adamant.

CEO of Microsoft reflects on Microsoft's mobile mistakes

In an interview with Business Insider, Nadella said: "The decision I think a lot of people talk about and one of the most difficult decisions I made when I became CEO was our exit of what I'll call the mobile phone as defined then. In retrospect, I think there could have been ways we could have made it work by perhaps reinventing the category of computing between PCs, tablets, and phones."

While the CEO of Microsoft admitted killing their mobile business was wrong, he did not suggest the company is planning to bring it back to life.

After the Surface Duo, which drew mixed reviews, Microsoft is no longer in the smartphone business. However, it will be interesting to see whether Windows will arrive on phones in the future. In the meantime, the American tech giant is reportedly prepping to unveil its first-ever AI chip.