Microsoft to make more phones… but they won’t look like phones

Microsoft’s share of the smartphone market is now considered negligible, its purchase of Nokia written off as an unmitigated disaster, while the future of Windows Phone 10 looks bleak to say the least.

However, Microsoft isn’t giving up the ghost on phones. According to CEO Satya Nadella, the company plans to reinvent them.

In an interview with Marketwatch, the Redmond chief said the firm will make new phones, but they won’t be like the phones we see today.

He told interviewer Molly Wood: “We’re looking for ‘what’s the next change in form and function?’ What we’ve done with Surface is a good example. No-one before us had thought of 2-in-1s, and we created that category, and made it a successful category, to the point where there are more 2-in-1s coming, and that’s what we want to do. So in a sense, when you say ‘will we make more phones?’, I’m sure we will make more phones, but they will not look like phones that are there today.”

Related: Surface Laptop – Everything you need to know

The mention of the Surface devices, along with an earlier nod to Windows Phone 10’s Continuum feature (which turns a phone into a Windows 10 desktop with the correct peripherals), seems to suggest Microsoft still has an interest in creating a phone that’s also a PC.

Is this what we’ll see with the heavily-rumored Surface Phone?

Related: What is Continuum for Windows Phone?

While Nadella makes some interesting points, the line about Microsoft inventing 2-in-1s with the Surface range is a little revisionist, to say the least.

While the first Surface device arrived in 2013, we’d certainly give Asus credit for its Transformer series, as well as Lenovo for its Yoga range, which both predate Microsoft’s homegrown effort.

Can Microsoft finally find a way to stand out in the smartphone market? Share your thoughts in the comments below.