Reminder: Windows is not the planet's most-used OS

Mobile devices now outnumber desktop and laptop PCs, and the most common mobile OS is not Windows. It's Android. And it's not close.

From c|net:

Google's Android operating system was the big winner in a big time for worldwide phone shipments, market researcher Strategy Analytics reported Wednesday.

Android captured 88 percent of all smartphone shipped in the third quarter of 2016, a period that also marks the fastest growth rate in a year. "Android's gain came at the expense of every major rival platform," Strategy Analytics' Linda Sui said in a press release.

"Apple iOS lost ground to Android and dipped to 12 percent [market]share," primarily because of "lackluster" sales in China and Africa, she said.

And don't bother looking for BlackBerry and Microsoft Windows phones in the mix. They "all but disappeared" in the period between July 1 and the end of September.

To put this in perspective, even with the smartphone market reaching maturity, and with Samsung's Galaxy Note 7 being recalled, there were still about 375 million smartphones shipped in the third quarter of 2016, up 6 percent from the same period last year. 88% of that is 330 million, which means that there were nearly as many Android smartphones shipped in the 3rd quarter alone, as there were PCs switched to Windows 10 in all of the last year.

If you were wondering why Windows 10's stagnant growth is a big deal for Microsoft, look no further. If you're wondering why Satya Nadella is talking up AR and VR for their shareholders, or why Microsoft is still spending on ARM-based versions of their OS, or trying to ensure that Windows 10 forms a big part of the Internet of Things, look no further.

Microsoft makes deep cuts to smartphone business

There were signs a while ago that this was coming, and today, it came:

Microsoft Corp announced more big cuts to its smartphone business on Wednesday, just two years after it bought handset maker Nokia in an ill-fated attempt to take on market leaders Apple and Samsung.

The U.S. company said it would shed up to 1,850 jobs, most of them in Finland, and write down $950 million from the
business. It did not say how many employees currently work on smartphones in the group as a whole.

A Finnish union representative told Reuters the cuts would essentially put an end to Microsoft's development of new phones.

"My understanding is that Windows 10 will go on as an operating system, but there will be no more phones made by
Microsoft," said Kalle Kiili, a shop steward.

Microsoft said in a statement it would continue to develop the Windows 10 platform and support its Lumia smartphones, but gave no comment on whether it would develop new Windows phones.

Windows 10's Universal Windows Platform was intended, among other things, to help Microsoft push Windows Phone, but this announcement would seem to indicate that Windows Phone is officially dead, with Microsoft basically writing off their Phone effort.

So, does this push Microsoft into doubling down on their overbearing and arguably underhanded efforts to push Windows 10 on PC, even though it clearly won't revive the fortunes of Windows Phone? And will Universal Windows Platform continue to be a centrepiece of Windows 10, even though the prospect of Universal Windows Apps running on smartphones has proven to be a non-starter?

I guess time will tell. But Microsoft's XBox and Windows 10 tactics have seemed, to me anyway, rather desperate for some time now. With this new development, their desperation is unlikely to do anything but increase.

UPDATE | I love the CBC, but their coverage missed a fair bit of Microsoft's response. What MS actually said about this move may well send a chill down the spine of many a MS shareholder. From C|Net:

"We are focusing our phone efforts where we have differentiation -- with enterprises that value security, manageability and our Continuum capability, and consumers who value the same," Chief Executive Satya Nadella said in a statement. "We will continue to innovate across devices and on our cloud services across all mobile platforms."

Is it just me, or does that sound a lot like BlackBerry's action plan, back when they were still trying to compete with iPhone and Android? BlackBerry now make Android devices, and even companies that used to have BlackBerry apps have decided that it's not worth the cost. And BlackBerry had market share to lose; Windows Phone doesn't.