Microsoft canceling Android-powered Nokia X in favour of Windows Phones

A memo from Microsoft's Stephen Elop states that the company will likely abandon the Nokia X line of Android powered smartphones in favour of lower-cost Windows Phone models under the more premium Lumia line.

“We will be particularly focused on making the market for Windows Phone. In the near term, we plan to drive Windows Phone volume by targeting the more affordable smartphone segments, which are the fastest growing segments of the market, with Lumia," Elop's memo stated.

While Microsoft will continue to support existing Nokia X devices, which were launched in early April of this year, the company will no longer use Android as the operating system for these devices, it will retain the design and hardware of the Nokia X line but ship devices running Windows Phone even in the low-end and emerging market segments.

"we plan to deliver additional lower-cost Lumia devices by shifting select future Nokia X designs and products to Windows Phone devices. We expect to make this shift immediately while continuing to sell and support existing Nokia X products," Elop stated.

Many were intially surprised when Nokia released an Android phone, specially since the company is third place behind  Google's Android and Apple's iOS. By launching an Android-powered device in emerging markets, some analysts felt Microsoft was competing with itself. This isn't the first time Microsoft's discontinued a recently released product, the Microsoft Kin phones were discontinued in less than two years and the widely rumoured Surface Mini, never even made to market.