LG Electronics will reportedly step back development of Windows Phone handsets due to weak sales, and instead focus on the Android platform.
Korea Herald cites an unnamed LG executive stating that the vendor currently has no plans to roll out any more LG-branded Windows Phones, but will continue some R&D efforts.
The executive implied that the company had made the decision due to Microsoft’s poor share of the global smartphone market.
Sources also told the Korea Herald that Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer plans to meet with his counterpart at LG Electronics this month to discuss new technologies. He therefore may raise the issue during the meeting.
LG and Microsoft signed an expanded agreement in 2009 to increase the number of LG handsets using Windows Phone tenfold, including launching up to 26 new devices this year.
But Microsoft has since struggled to build market share for the OS in a market dominated by Android devices and the iPhone.
The move is a blow for Microsoft, and leaves it even more reliant on its partnership with Nokia for efforts to expand Windows Phone’s reach.
But in a piece of good news, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak has sparked some free publicity for the platform by stating that he prefers Windows Phone to Android.
According toBoy Genius Report Wozniak, who recently purchased a Nokia Lumia 900, called the platform “intuitive and beautiful.” But Wozniak maintained that the iPhone is still his favorite phone.