Microsoft to Kill off Windows Phones and Encourages the iPhone or Android Instead

It’s not everyday that you see a company encourage people to buy a rival company’s product.

There was a time when Microsoft hoped that its Windows Phone would beat the iPhone and the Android, but things didn’t go as planned.

Microsoft will be killing off support for its Windows 10 Mobile in December and is recommending that users switch instead to the iPhone or the Android.

On Dec. 10, 2019, the company will stop sending “new security updates, non-security hotfixes, free assisted support options, or technical content updates from Microsoft for free.”

“With the Windows 10 Mobile OS end of support, we recommend that customers move to a supported Android or iOS device,” Microsoft announced.

“Microsoft’s mission statement to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more, compels us to support our Mobile apps on those platforms and devices.”

Terry Myerson, the former head of Windows Phone, remarked on the failures last spring and said, “We had a differentiated experience, but it’s so clear in hindsight that the disruption in business model which Android represented was enormous, and that building our early versions of Windows Phone on an incomplete Windows CE platform, designed for small embedded systems, left us too hobbled to ever catch up.”

Disclaimer: We have no position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) and have not been compensated for this article.