Microsoft kills off Windows Phone

Microsoft has ended support for Windows Phone 8.1, essentially marking the end of the line for the mobile OS.

This isnt the end for Windows on mobile altogether, though. Windows 10, Microsofts long-hailed unified OS, runs on smartphone as well as tablet, desktop and the Xbox, and compatible devices started being upgraded from 8.1 last March.

However, it is indicative of Windows Phones failure to ever truly catch on, since it first launched in 2010.

Windows accounts for just 1.7 per cent of smartphone sales in the US, and 2.4 per cent in the top five European countries, according to Kantar figures from May. Despite various moves from Microsoft – from its purchase of Nokia to the launch of Windows Phone 8.1 in April 2014, intended to address many of the complaints about the OS – its share of the smartphone market has trended fairly consistently downwards.

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