Microsoft Again Says It Has No Plans to Make Its Own Smartphone

Ever now and then a rumor crops up that Microsoft is going to release its own smartphone. The man in charge of the company's Windows Mobile program yesterday repeated what has always been said before on this question: it's not going to happen.

This question never cropped up when Microsoft was a software company that just created operating systems and let others handle the hardware. But in the last few years it has released its own gaming console, the Xbox, and its own music player, the Zune. This has lead people to wonder if Microsoft is going to release other hardware, like a smartphone.

Back in 2006, the head of the Zune team even said a combination Zune and mobile phone was in the cards. However, the company has stepped back from that, and in 2007 Microsoft's CEO Steve Ballmer dismissed the whole idea.

Yesterday, Scott Rockfeld, Group Manager of Microsoft Mobile Communications held to this position, telling Silicon Alley Insider that his company has "no plans to build our own phone."

Instead, Rockfeld says Microsoft is happy to continue developing and licensing Windows Mobile to other companies.