Sony in talks with Microsoft to develop Windows Phones

According to Sony Mobile head for Europe, Pierre Perron, who spoke to TechRadar Sony is in talks with Microsoft to deliver a Windows Phone device. He says Sony is in talks with "other partners, including Microsoft" for a broader Sony spectrum.

"We don't want to be a single OS manufacturer" said Perron, and that's exactly what Sony has become having released only Android smartphones for a few years now. In its later days as Sony Ericsson the company was involved with Windows Mobile, on which platform the company introduced its Xperia lineup with the then-popular X1 slide-out QWERTY phone.

Recently we heard that Sony is pondering a WP device for a mid-2014 launch, but now that a credible Sony executive has confirmed the negotiations, we're more at ease believing them.

Sony has years of cooperation with Microsoft under its belt with the VAIO brand of Windows computers - an established brand name. Looking back to 2011 we can clearly remember a Sony prototype running a test version of Windows Phone 7 - later on Sony CEO Kunimasa Suzuki dispelled the rumors by saying that Sony won't release a Windows Phone.

Perron believes that making smartphones for just one OS - even the most widely adopted one - isn't a "viable position in the long term". He did add that Sony enjoys "a good collaboration with Google" but that the search giant has a relationship with direct competitors of Sony as well. The same could be said of Microsoft, however.

While Perron hasn't provided specifics on launch dates or if talks are even in their final stages yet, things are certainly looking promising.

Source