January 14th is set to be a bloodbath at Microsoft.
After a multi-year run, the smartphone OS that couldn’t, Windows 10 Mobile, was set to sail off into the sunset on December 10. It looks like Microsoft has delayed that voyage by about a month, though; the company has updated its support page to indicate Windows 10 Mobile will reach end-of-life (EOL) on January 14, 2020.
According to the updated support page:
Windows 10 Mobile, version 1709 will reach end of service on January 14, 2020. Devices running Windows 10 Mobile and Windows 10 Mobile Enterprise will no longer receive monthly security and quality updates that contain protection from the latest security threats.
This is the same day that Microsoft is planning on killing support for Windows 7 as well, interestingly enough.
At its peak, Windows Mobile and Windows Phones ran on roughly 3.6% of active smartphones, most of which were relegated to public sector and business handsets. That was back in 3Q 2013; since that time, Windows Phone’s market share steadily declined. The OS fell below 3% saturation in 4Q 2014 only to fall below 2% less than a year later in 3Q 2015.