After all the rumours about Sony launching a Windows Phone this year,
the company itself has confirmed that it has been, and still is, in
talks with Microsoft.
Sony’s European mobile chief, Pierre Perron, said last week in an interview that the company does not want to be a “single OS manufacturer” because it’s just not a viable position to be in long-term. “[Working with Microsoft] is an interesting proposition for us in the PC environment, and we continue our engagement with them,” he said. “We are exploring this as part of our discussion in mobile space too. One thing is using the platform [Windows Phone] itself, and another is ‘what can we deliver on top of it’?”
Perron also revealed that Sony worked with Microsoft back in 2012 and with all the image leaks of prototype Sony Windows Phones, it definitely looks as though Sony has been playing around with the Microsoft phone software.
The Windows Phone 8.1 update is expected in April, so it is likely that any associated hardware will be ready to receive the new software.
Currently it is Nokia that everyone associates with Windows Phone, so it is no wonder that Microsoft wants to bring in other phone vendors to the platform. As an extra incentive for new partners, Microsoft is considering lowering the licensing fees for Windows Phone, so maybe that will be the final clincher for Sony and we’ll see it provide handsets that run on the Windows Phone operating system.
Sony’s European mobile chief, Pierre Perron, said last week in an interview that the company does not want to be a “single OS manufacturer” because it’s just not a viable position to be in long-term. “[Working with Microsoft] is an interesting proposition for us in the PC environment, and we continue our engagement with them,” he said. “We are exploring this as part of our discussion in mobile space too. One thing is using the platform [Windows Phone] itself, and another is ‘what can we deliver on top of it’?”
Perron also revealed that Sony worked with Microsoft back in 2012 and with all the image leaks of prototype Sony Windows Phones, it definitely looks as though Sony has been playing around with the Microsoft phone software.
The Windows Phone 8.1 update is expected in April, so it is likely that any associated hardware will be ready to receive the new software.
Currently it is Nokia that everyone associates with Windows Phone, so it is no wonder that Microsoft wants to bring in other phone vendors to the platform. As an extra incentive for new partners, Microsoft is considering lowering the licensing fees for Windows Phone, so maybe that will be the final clincher for Sony and we’ll see it provide handsets that run on the Windows Phone operating system.
