Microsoft Corp. has announced that it would not release Kin phones in Europe later this year, as planned, but would focus on promotion of smartphones running Windows Phone 7 operating system (OS). The move is believed to be directly associated with lackluster welcome of the Kin devices in the U.S.

"We have made the decision to focus exclusively on Windows Phone 7 and we will not ship Kin in Europe this fall as planned. Additionally, we are integrating our Kin team with the Windows Phone 7 team, incorporating valuable ideas and technologies from Kin into future Windows Phone releases. We will continue to work with Verizon in the U.S. to sell current Kin phones,” an official statement from the company reads.

An anonymous source speaking to Cnet News.com has indicated that sales of Kin phones in the U.S. have been greater than 1000 but less than 10 000 units, well below expectations.

Microsoft consistent failures on the mobile field have become pretty well-known. For a long time the company has not managed to make its Zune portable media player a success, but scrapped all of its services designed for third-party portable players. The world’s largest maker of software also has not managed to grab a significant portion of the smartphone market when the latter began to grow rapidly due to interest from consumers. Several months ago Microsoft release its own-brand Kin phones for the youth, but the devices also has not succeeded in winning any minds or market share.

Despite of recent woes, Microsoft Windows Mobile platform at least was successful once and Windows Phone 7, as the successor, has chances too. In an attempt to ensure high quality user experience, Microsoft reportedly has imposed very specific hardware requirements for Windows Phone 7-based devices. Perhaps, this is the step in the right direction for the company, which cannot control the end product?

Tags: Microsoft, Kin, Windows, Windows Phone