Microsoft Q3 2016: Lumia sales drop by 73% from last year

Microsoft’s phone business continues to decline, revealed the latest quarterly earnings of the Redmond-based tech giant.

In the last quarter, Microsoft sold just a meagre 2.3 million Lumia Windows phones, as compared to 8.6 million during the same quarter a year ago, down by 73 percent from the previous year.

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) documents reveal that Microsoft reported net income of $3.8 billion (AU $4.93 billion) and $20.5 billion (AU $26.58 billion) in revenue for the quarter ending March 31 . As a result, Microsoft's overall revenue from phone business declined by 46 percent.

Thanks to the consistent sales of Surface Pro 4 and Surface Book , the Surface revenue went up to $1.1 billion (AU $1.43 billion) in the third quarter, an increase of 61 percent from the same period last year.

The decline in the Windows Phone business is due to the “the previously announced change in strategy for the phone business,” explains Microsoft in the Q3 fiscal 2016 earnings report.

In related news, starting from May 6, Cricket Wireless will be selling Microsoft Lumia 650 for $129.99 (AU$167). Cricket will be the only US carrier to offer the successor to the Lumia 640, launched back in 2015.

Last year, Cricket Wireless was the first carrier to sell the Lumia 640. The Lumia 650 runs on Windows 10 Mobile and will be “available online and in Cricket stores nationwide,” confirmed Cricket Wireless through a press note.

For those who are interested, here is a quick recap of the Microsoft Lumia 650 specs. The device features 5-inch HD OLED ClearBlack display. Powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon 212, the Windows 10 phone houses 16GB of expandable in-built storage and 1GB of RAM.

The Lumia 650 features a 2,000mAH battery unit to keep the lights on. In the camera department, the Lumia 650 sports an 8-megapixel rear-facing camera alongside a 5MP selfie shooter.

“Being the exclusive carrier of the Lumia 650, a sleek smartphone at a great price, gives customers more reason to want to join Cricket Nation,” said Tiffany Baehman, vice president and chief marketing officer of Cricket Wireless.