Huawei puts future Windows Phone products 'on hold'

Richard Yu, the head of Huawei's consumer business group, said in a new interview that the Chinese-based smartphone company has put all future Windows Phone product development "on hold".

In a chat with the Wall Street Journal, Yu is quoted as saying:

"We have tried using the Windows Phone OS. But it has been difficult to persuade consumers to buy a Windows phone. It wasn't profitable for us. We were losing money for two years on those phones. So for now we've decided to put any releases of new Windows phones on hold."

Yu added that Huawei does still have some concerns about Google's Android OS being what he called "the only option" for the company but apparently the business feels they "have no choice" at this point.

Huawei's last Windows Phone device was the Ascend W2 which launched in November 2013. There were rumors that the company was planning to launch a successor, the Ascend W3, earlier this year but it never materialized. Another rumor from earlier this year claimed Huawei was going to launch a phone that could run both Windows Phone and Android at the same time but those reports were quickly refuted.

What do you think of Huawei deciding to halt development of Windows Phone devices, especially since other new OEMs have since joined the Windows Phone bandwagon?

Source: Wall Street Journal

John Callaham