Windows Phone needs 'spiritual equivalent' to Surface, says Microsoft's marketing head

Chris Capossela, Chief Marketing Officer for Microsoft, appeared on the TWiT network's Windows Weekly this week where he gave his thoughts on how the company needs to move forward to make Windows Phone competitive, hinting at a Surface-like path.

As reported by GeekWire, Capossela referenced the success of Microsoft's approach to the Surface line of tablets, acknowledging the company's earlier misfires with the lineup, but noting their eventual "breakthrough" with customers in terms of their hardware design and flexibility to be both a tablet and PC. Speaking further, Caposella said that Windows Phones need a sort of "spiritual equivalent" to the Surface tablet, giving a hint of what the future may hold:

"We need some sort of spiritual equivalent on the phone side that doesn't just feel like it's a phone for people who love Windows," he said. "It's got to be a phone where it's like, 'Wow, that's a real shock or that's a real breakthrough, and (for an Apple customer) that's going to make me pause before I buy my 17th iPhone.' And we need time to actually go build that."

Keep in mind that this doesn't really confirm the oft-rumored Surface Phone, but it certainly sheds some light on where Microsoft may be headed with the platform. And while Caposella may not have outright confirmed a Surface Phone, he did somewhat confirm the existence of a Lumia 650 during the interview.

In any case, you can check out the full interview (and it's well worth it) at the link below. And let us know what you'd want out of a potential Surface Phone given Caposella's comments.

Watch Chris Caposella on Windows Weekly 445

For a more nuanced discussion check out our thought piece 'The future of Windows Mobile – Does Microsoft want to reboot the concept of a phone?' for what Microsoft is trying to do.

Source: GeekWire