Not even Windows 10 was enough to save Windows Phone

Windows Phone has never been even remotely popular, but Microsoft has remained steadfast in its support for the platform. The company’s dedication was supposed to be rewarded with the introduction of Window 10, which Microsoft hoped would boost the platform’s popularity enough that it could be considered a serious competitor to Android and iOS, but that hasn’t happened yet. In fact, Microsoft sold almost 60% less smartphones last quarter than it did the year prior, and considering how it’s pretty much the only company selling Windows Phones, this reaffirms the belief of many that the platform is more or less dead at this point.

Microsoft said Thursday that it sold half as many Lumia smartphones as it did a year ago, and that the trend will continue—what some might call a virtual death sentence for Microsoft’s Lumia smartphone line. In its quarterly earnings call Thursday, Microsoft said that it sold 4.5 million Lumia phones during the fourth calendar quarter, down a whopping 57 percent compared to the 10.5 million sold during the same period a year ago. Phone revenue as a whole declined 53 percent, or $1.2 billion. Even worse, Microsoft chief financial officer Amy Hood told analysts to expect that its phone revenue would decline a comparable amount in the coming quarter as well. That means that by the end of March, Microsoft’s phone business will be worth roughly $636 million in terms of revenue. That’s roughly three times the revenue recorded by Blackberry’s hardware division in November—and BlackBerry, of course, has basically transitioned into an Android phone company. Like the Black Knight, Microsoft’s phone business may not be quite dead yet, but how long does it have to go?