Acer, ASUS and ZTE were all planning to launch Windows Phone 8 smartphones in 2013 but are all now reportedly putting those plans on hold. A report suggests that the dissatisfaction goes beyond Windows Phone’s minuscule market share and includes concerns about high operating system license costs and restrictive platform specifications that make it more difficult to differentiate devices and compete with Nokia. According to Digitimes supply chain sources, Windows Phone 8 currently accounts for only 3% of the global smartphone market. Nokia dominates with 70% of that tiny market share. Windows Phone 8 had been expected to top the 10% mark by now.
At least one Microsoft partner aside from Nokia is not quite ready to throw in the towel on Windows Phone 8. Samsung is expected to unveil new devices in its ATIV family of Windows and Windows Phone devices at an event on June 20th.
Could Microsoft’s partners flagging interest lead to Microsoft buying Nokia outright and going at it alone?
Source : Digitimes