Yeah that sucks but at least they can move to Android or iOS before they're too heavily invested in WP

Well, this doesn't seem like a good thing. The new CEO really dropped what Balmer was trying to do with mobile. I know they want to say Windows: mobile, tablet and desktop, so wonder if they are just gearing up for a big Surface Phone launch.

Oh yes, the Surface phone. Why is that a thing Windows Mobile fans cling to? 

The Surface brand? Surface sales remain below those of the iPad and those are deemed as a failure. Features? Whatever groundbreaking features it may have, the competition will copy it in no time, assuming MS can come up with said features in the first place, because so far they've playing catch up with Android and iOS. The only unique gimmick they tried to push was continumm, which is a feature we saw first in Ubuntu, and as proven by the sales of both handsets, there is no demand for it. 

Microsoft is out of tricks. I am afriad the ultimate Windows Mobile resurrection has happened already; MS apps on every popular mobile OS.

Ha ha ha ha,  Surface a failure?  You must be smoking too much of the good stuff.

Thanks for the laugh man.  That was good.  Can you top it?

That's not what I meant to say at all, the Surface line will continue to grow and it is a nice source of revenue. However, the surface brand is still not mainstream enough to slap it on a phone and ensure its success. 

MS isn't gearing up for anything when it comes to mobile hardware business. They just shut down their any effort to sell devices outside of the US/EU , including Brazil, one of the place where their phones is most popular. They give up on the dream, time for everyone else to accept it. MS took missteps, every step of the way.

It saddens me, actually. I don't want Google's Android to be left unchallanged. Peope will stop buying premium phones eventually and Android will be the go to OS for everyone. Competition breeds better products, always.

I've had windows phone for the last 4 years , and I wont be leaving any time soon.

You guys should really get your facts straight before you start splurting nonsense...

Windows mobile isn't going anywhere , they have to have it for universal apps to make sense.

Also if you read the memo, it stated that they're are going to going after the business sector where they have had moderate success.

So essentially retrenching on the consumer market, focusing on the business market.

Get the software where it needs to be over the next 12-18 months and then come out with (probably) the Surface phone..bare in mind any hardware which panos panay has overseen has pretty much been gold for them.

Also Microsoft is now just concentrating on premium phones (hardware) and then hopefully let other OEMs fill in the gaps.essentially the exact same plan they had with Surface.Remember when Tim Cook said having a tablet with a keyboard was like trying to mix a fridge and a toaster (something like that anyway)....well look at their lasted ipad now.

This isn't Microsoft pulling out of the mobile business, its a streamlining .

A change of plans as things obviously haven't worked out great for them.

Their default app sucks and the marketplace sucks too. They are lacking nearly everything. Hopefully their Surface phone has good support.

Will you say that when they leave the console business too?

"Yes, deleting Xbox was best for the stock"

Hope they can get some traction with whatever they do this time. Windows Universal Apps are the only interesting thing going on in the mobile sector.

The Apple-Google duoply of the mobile industry needs to come to an end, and soon. Hopefully Sony, Microsoft, or even Nintendo can come up with a disruptive mobile device that can finally end the nonsense of these atrocious touch only devices.

Shame. Anyone who has actually used a windows phone knows that they are the best the use. Even the Surface, hands down the best device of its class.

Its just that the market place/ app support is so awful I can not justify owning one.