Windows Phone likely dead as Microsoft sacks 7,800 employees

The company bought Nokia a year ago with the aim of taking on Apple and Google — and has written off the entire thing

Windows Phone seems like it might finally be taking hold in certain markets. It was even the second most popular mobile OS (at least in one country, Mexico) for the first time. (Andrew H. Walker/Getty)

Microsoft might have killed its plans to make its own phone after it sacked 7,800 staff and said it would take huge charges.

The company bought Nokia's phone business a year ago with the hope of making a third major smartphone platform, alongside iOS and Android. But the company has sacked much of the people in that business and has taken a $7.6 billion hit on the assets it bought in the deal.

The company will instead look towards creating “a vibrant Windows ecosystem”, according to Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, who laid out the plans. “In the near-term, we’ll run a more effective and focused phone portfolio while retaining capability for long-term reinvention in mobility,” he wrote in an email to Microsoft employees.

Microsoft already said a year ago that it would sack 18,000 employees, most of which were also in its smartphone business.