The Strategist

Lumia Brand Goes Under 'Surface'



01/25/2016 - 14:15



Next month, Microsoft will present perhaps the last Windows-based smartphone branded Lumia, reports WindowsCentral. Announcement of Lumia 650 model, focused on business users, is scheduled for February 1.



Microsoft
Microsoft
February 1, Microsoft will present perhaps the last smartphone coming under Lumia brand - new Lumia 650. In the conference Mobile World Congress held in Barcelona in late February, Microsoft is expected to officially unveil Lumia 750 and 850. However, according to WindowsCentral, development of these devices was terminated in July last year. Moreover, there are suspicions Lumia will not be shown at the exhibition at all.

According to rumors, the thin development team of Lumia was transferred to the department dealing with ‘Surface’ products. Now, both teams are developing a new generation of smart phones, equipped by x86 processors. The presentation party is planned for this autumn.

As we learned from the trade press, Lumia 650 will receive a 5-inch display 720p, Qualcomm Snapdragon processor 210 or 212 gigabytes of RAM, 8 GB flash drive, support for microSD-cards and two cameras: an 8-megapixel back (with LED flash ) and 5-megapixel front. Lumia 650 will run on Windows 10 Mobile.

Some publications claim that the company abandon not only Lumia, but the Windows operating system 10 Mobile as a whole. New Microsoft Smartphones will already run on a desktop version of Windows 10 with the mobile interface. There is a possibility that the gadget will be released under Surface brand.

It is worth noting that the developers from the Surface subdivision led by Panos Panay managed independently, i.e. without buying any existing companies and startups, to release a truly technologically complex products, which came as a surprise for the press and the market itself. These are new Surface Pro tablets 4 and a notebook-transformer Surface Book.

Despite all the investment in the purchase of Nokia and sharpening smart phones production department, Microsoft was not able to capture a large market share. It was even worse since in 2015, the company managed to lose about two percent of it, eventually finishing on just 1% of the global smartphone market. However, income from other Microsoft’s activities allows the company not to pay attention to it. Moreover, Microsoft can even afford to stop issuing units.

By the way, Nokia may regain the right to use Nokia and Lumia brands in the mobile business this year. The Finnish company has published a teaser video with the new devices, which include tablet N1, VR-camera Ozo, and two smartphone. One of them - presumably the C-1 - will run on Android.

source: windowscentral.com