Microsoft Surface Phone release date delayed; foldable new Windows Phone instead?

(Reuters/Morris Mac Matzen/Files)Rumors claim that the next Windows Phone is a foldable phone, and not the Surface Phone.

While avid Microsoft fans are expecting that the Redmond-based company will be releasing its Surface Phone this year, the latest reports claim that, although Microsoft may release a new Windows Phone this year, it will not be the highly anticipated Surface Phone.

There is no denying that the Surface Phone is one of the most-talked-about devices, although Microsoft has yet to confirm its existence. While it is suspected that Microsoft will finally release the device within this year, reports claim that it will not be the case.

It is said that Microsoft is, indeed, releasing a new Windows Phone this year. However, contrary to the popular belief, it will not be the Surface Phone. Rather, the Redmond-based company will be releasing a new smartphone that is foldable that can be converted into a tablet.

This is not the first time for Microsoft to be suspected to release an innovative smartphone, though. To recall, earlier this year, it was rumored that the company was going to release a foldable smartphone (believed to be the Surface Phone then) when photos of the alleged patent it applied for and have been awarded with leaked online. The only difference between the reports then and now is that the said upcoming Microsoft device will not be known as the Surface Phone.

In the event that Microsoft is, indeed, releasing a new Windows Phone that is foldable, tech pundits can only wonder which between the Redmond-based company and Samsung will deliver the innovative product first. After all, it was also reported recently that the South Korean tech giant is also bent on releasing its Galaxy X Foldable this year as it wants to have the distinction to be the first to deliver a foldable smartphone.

Whether it will be Microsoft that will be the first to deliver a foldable/expandable smartphone or not, some fans do not really care. What matters to them is when Microsoft will deliver the Surface Phone, a question whose answer only Microsoft holds.

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