Microsoft Unveils New Smartphones in Bid to Revive Mobile Business
October 06 2015 - 11:54AM
Dow Jones News
By Shira Ovide
Microsoft Corp. announced Tuesday two new smartphones of its own
design and running Windows software, in the company's latest bid to
revive its struggling mobile-phone business.
The new models, the Lumia 950 and Lumia 950XL, are aimed at the
same segment of the market as high-end smartphones such as Apple
Inc.'s iPhone. At a press event Tuesday in New York, Microsoft
hardware executive Panos Panay touted features such as cameras that
work well in low light conditions, and a special port that can be
used to quickly recharge a phone.
Mr. Panay also made a pitch for Microsoft's smartphones, which
have less than 3% market share globally. "If you haven't thought
about these phones, wake up," he said.
Microsoft has been seeking for five years to find success with
its smartphone operating software, and since last year with its own
smartphone designs inherited in the purchase of Nokia Corp.'s
mobile-phone operating. The company this summer wrote down about
80% of the value of the $9.4 billion deal, essentially an admission
that Microsoft's smartphone strategy needed a reboot.
Microsoft executives on Tuesday pitched the benefits of the
company's smartphones running Windows 10, the latest version of
Microsoft's personal-computer operating system that also for the
first time serves as the technology base for Windows tablets,
smartphones, the Xbox videogame console and other devices.
Microsoft's smartphone pitch is that the hundreds of millions of
Windows PC users will want a phone that easily bridges from the PC
to the device in their pockets.
Mr. Panay said the Lumia 950, which has a 5.2-inch screen, has a
starting price of $549, while the Lumia XL has a 5.7-inch screen
and starts at $649. Both models will be available in November.
Write to Shira Ovide at shira.ovide@wsj.com
Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
October 06, 2015 11:39 ET (15:39 GMT)
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