Microsoft has been long rumored to be working on its own smartphone, and despite the company denying such speculation reports keep piling up claiming otherwise.
Unofficial information about a Microsoft smartphone keeps surfacing, and now a new media report claims the software giant has actually started testing the design of the handset with component manufacturers.
According to a Nov. 1 report from the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), citing "people familiar with the situation," Microsoft is currently working with component suppliers in Asia to test its own smartphone design. This would indicate the software giant is considering a business model similar to Apple's, designing both hardware and software.
Officials at some of Microsoft's component suppliers in Asia told the WSJ that Microsoft is testing a smartphone design, but is not certain whether a product would actually go into mass production. The sources spoke under condition of anonymity.
One of the sources said that Microsoft's smartphone prototype sports a screen between four and five inches, but did not offer any additional details about the handset.
The rumor mill has been churning for months that Microsoft is working on its own smartphone, especially as the company made its first foray into the hardware field back in June, when it unveiled its own-brand Surface tablet. The Surface hit the market last week, and it still faces mixed reactions among Microsoft's long-time partners. Some of those partners have expressed concerns that the software giant is unfairly competing with their PC models running Microsoft's Windows software.
In an interview with the WSJ on Monday, Oct. 29, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer declined to comment on whether his company would make its own smartphone.
"We're quite happy this holiday [season] going to market hard with Nokia, Samsung and HTC," Ballmer told the publication, referring to companies making Windows Phone 8 smartphones. "Whether we had a plan to do something different or we didn't have a plan I wouldn't comment in any dimension."
On the other hand, smartphones running Microsoft's two-year-old Windows Phone mobile operating system have not sold well, and Microsoft may seek to spur sales with its own smartphone.
During a conference call two weeks ago, Nokia CEO Stephen Elop said he would welcome a Microsoft-made smartphone, saying it would be a "stimulant" to sales for all companies making Windows Phone handsets. Elop said he was not familiar with Microsoft's plans.
Microsoft launched a youth-oriented line of smartphones called the Kin back in 2010, but quickly dropped it. The Kin phones carried Microsoft's brand, but were manufactured by Japanese electronics giant Sharp Corp.
Now, however, the market for smartphones is expanding more than ever, with particularly strong demand in China and other emerging markets. According to research firm IDC, smartphone shipments are expected to increase 38.8 percent this year to 686 million units.
