Carphone Warehouse is the UK"s largest independent retailer of mobile devices, selling handsets from all major manufacturers on contract, on pay-as-you-go plans, and SIM-free. This week, the company ended sales of its last Microsoft Lumia device, leaving just a single Windows 10 Mobile handset available to purchase.
Last year, Carphone Warehouse stocked Microsoft"s entire Windows 10 Mobile range - Lumias 550, 650, 950, and 950 XL - along with older handsets like the Lumia 640 and 640 XL. But in recent months, that offering gradually became smaller, and over the last few weeks, Microsoft"s only handset available to purchase there was the Lumia 950, priced at £399.99 SIM-free - considerably higher than the £249 price at which the Microsoft Store last sold that device.
Now, the Lumia 950 is no longer available to buy from the Carphone Warehouse site, although its product listing is still live. A handful of the retailer"s physical stores still have stock available, but those stocks are unlikely to be replenished. Microsoft removed all Lumia handsets from its own UK store in March, months after its stocks had been depleted.
If you search for a Windows phone on Carphone Warehouse"s site now, the only option you"ll be presented with is HP"s Elite x3, which is available to buy on its own for £679.99, or with the Desk Dock accessory for £699.99. The retailer is only selling it via its website, with no availability in its retail stores.
Microsoft has been scaling back its mobile business over the last twelve months. Last quarter, its phone sales generated just $5 million of revenue worldwide, as stocks of its devices dwindled with no direct replacements on the way. Images emerged this week of the "Lumia 960", an aluminium-bodied Windows 10 Mobile flagship that Microsoft cancelled before it was released.