If you can't beat 'em, join 'em!
Take this with a heavy dose of skepticism covered in salt, but rumor has it Microsoft is having internal discussions about dropping Windows Phone and chasing its mobile dreams through Android. If Microsoft went down that road, it would focus its mobile efforts on pre-installing services like Office, Skype, and OneDrive onto Android phones and tablets.
The rumor originates from Twitter user and known Microsoft leaker "MSNerd."
"Nadella and the SLT debating continuing Windows on phones and small tablets versus bundle Microsoft services on Android as the way forward," MSNerd said, according to The Inquirer. "Microsoft would push Google Play devices with Microsoft apps in exchange for Google providing first-class Maps, YouTube, Search on Windows."
It's a 'scratch-my-back' sort of deal that MSNerd describes, though would Microsoft really go down that road? Giving up on Windows Phone at this stage seems unlikely, especially with the work that's been put into Windows 10 for Mobile. At the same time, Nadella's recent letter to employees talked about making "some tough choices in areas where things are not working."
Whether or not Microsoft's mobile strategy is working is up for debate. According to IDC's data, Microsoft's share of the mobile market at the end of the first quarter was just 2.7 percent. That's not much, and there hasn't been much movement in the past several years. Have a look:
- Q1 2015: 2.7 percent
- Q1 2014: 2.5 percent
- Q1 2013: 3.2 percent
- Q1 2012: 2.0 percent
If you average those out, you get 2.6 percent, or just 0.1 percent below where it's at now. Meanwhile, Android has a stranglehold on the mobile market with a 78 percent share, followed by iOS at a distant second with 18.3 percent.
Looking at the numbers, it might not be the worst thing in the world for Microsoft to alter its mobile strategy and ride the coattails of Android. Whether or not it goes down that road, however, we'll have to wait and see.
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