We know this is going to happen one day, when a software company giant requires support from an influential OEM partner and a smartphone OEM starts growing big in one particular ecosystem. At the WinHEC Summit in Shenzhen, China, Microsoft not only announced the availability of Windows 10 in 190 countries with 111 languages this summer, but also revealed that the company will be working closely with Xiaomi on producing Windows 10 handsets. According to Microsoft, a select group of Xiaomi Mi 4 users will be testing the company’s smartphone operating system and giving feedbacks to the company from time to time, at this point of time they already have access to Windows 10 Technical Preview to load it on to their Mi 4.
This could be a win-win situation for both parties since Microsoft seriously needs publicity for their mobile operating system, with the company’s effort on giving out free Windows Phone licenses to OEMs, Xiaomi could be the next smartphone maker to make affordable and powerful Windows Phone handsets. If we think further down the road, Microsoft could create its very own competition for its Lumia smartphones throughout this partnership, despite having different business entities between the software and hardware division. At the end of the day, it is definitely a great news to hear that Xiaomi will start offering phones with different smartphone platforms in the near future, because I have recently gotten tired of MIUI.
