Microsoft Unveils New Smartphones in Bid to Revive Mobile Business

By Shira Ovide 

Microsoft Corp. announced Tuesday two new smartphones of its own design and running Windows software, in the company's latest bid to revive its struggling mobile-phone business.

The new models, the Lumia 950 and Lumia 950XL, are aimed at the same segment of the market as high-end smartphones such as Apple Inc.'s iPhone. At a press event Tuesday in New York, Microsoft hardware executive Panos Panay touted features such as cameras that work well in low light conditions, and a special port that can be used to quickly recharge a phone.

Mr. Panay also made a pitch for Microsoft's smartphones, which have less than 3% market share globally. "If you haven't thought about these phones, wake up," he said.

Microsoft has been seeking for five years to find success with its smartphone operating software, and since last year with its own smartphone designs inherited in the purchase of Nokia Corp.'s mobile-phone operating. The company this summer wrote down about 80% of the value of the $9.4 billion deal, essentially an admission that Microsoft's smartphone strategy needed a reboot.

Microsoft executives on Tuesday pitched the benefits of the company's smartphones running Windows 10, the latest version of Microsoft's personal-computer operating system that also for the first time serves as the technology base for Windows tablets, smartphones, the Xbox videogame console and other devices.

Microsoft's smartphone pitch is that the hundreds of millions of Windows PC users will want a phone that easily bridges from the PC to the device in their pockets.

Mr. Panay said the Lumia 950, which has a 5.2-inch screen, has a starting price of $549, while the Lumia XL has a 5.7-inch screen and starts at $649. Both models will be available in November.

Write to Shira Ovide at [e-mail]

Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 06, 2015 11:39 ET (15:39 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2015 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.