Microsoft’s acquisition of Nokia came at a bit of an awkward time. Though Windows 10 and its mobile counterpart were still more than a year away, the time it would take for Microsoft to develop its first flagship would put any launch and subsequent release of a big ticket phone too close to Microsoft’s planned revamp of the Windows experience.
When Microsoft previewed Windows 10 in late-January, the company confirmed what we suspected — that it would wait until much later this year to debut its flagship. Specifically, the company said we’d see a flagship phone in late summer. However, what remained unclear was whether that meant a Windows Phone 8.1 device that would be upgraded to Windows 10 or a phone that would ship with Windows 10 mobile at launch.
It seems that it’s the latter. Windows Central had previously quoted Ifi Majid, head of Global Sell-In and Experiences Product Marketing at Microsoft, as saying a flagship and updates for other devices would come sometime late in summer. Now The Verge has something more on Microsoft’s flagship plans. Neil Broadley, Director of Phone Marketing at Microsoft, told the site that Microsoft “remains completely committed and focused on new flagship products.” However, the company is definitely waiting for Windows 10 before bringing the flagship goodness.
“[…] certainly we believe the best time to bring those flagship devices to market is when we have our very latest flagship software experience available,” Broadley said. “We’re focusing our flagship development for slightly later when Windows 10 is available.”
What remains unclear is if Windows 10 and Windows 10 mobile will launch at the same time. Microsoft has already released the Windows 10 mobile preview, but the company hasn’t offered anything solid on a release date.
All we have to go on is Majid’s comments about a late summer release for the flagship and the update for current Windows Phone users. However, Microsoft just today confirmed that the Windows 10 Technical Preview will end in mid-April and the full version of the OS will launch in ‘late 2015.’ Does that mean the late summer flagship plans have gone down the tubes? Let’s hope not!
