LG drops Windows Phone, for now

LG has no love or faith in Microsoft’s mobile operating system, with the company having no plans for new Windows Phone hardware in the near future. But things can change quickly in this business.

Microsoft may have waited a little too long transitioning from Windows Mobile to Windows Phone. But Windows Phone is now here, hopefully to stay. A third big smartphone operating system is good for consumers, giving them choice and preventing either Apple or Google from resting on their laurels and assuming they have the market to carve up amongst themselves.

Nokia is in for the longterm, having inked a deal to produce the hardware for Windows Phone handsets. But other companies are proving a little harder to keep happy. According to WPCentral, LG is getting out of the Windows Phone market for the time being. This was revealed in a recent earnings call. The reason? Money, of course.

The company reportedly stated, “The total unit of Windows Phone sold in the global market is not a meaningful figure.” As a consequence LG has no plans to add to its current line of Windows Phone handsets. Instead the company will be focusing its efforts on Android, which makes sense for short-term gain but is a disappointment for the bigger mobile OS war still being fought.

LG has since told CNET that the comments were somewhat taken out of context, though it’s true that no Windows Phone handsets are in the pipeline. This would imply that LG will return to the platform in the future, but I suspect that will depend on whether the market share of, and demand for, Windows Phone increases enough to make it a worthwhile exercise.

Windows Phone is a great OS, and the forthcoming Windows Phone 8 may make it even better. Unfortunately the somewhat poor hardware and lack of apps (compared to Android and iOS) mean Microsoft faces an uphill battle in getting Windows Phone into a strong position. Still, at least Woz likes it.

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