Microsoft has said that the problems with its smartphone business have forced it to miss the target of getting the Windows 10 operating system installed on over one billion devices by 2018.
Released in July last year, Windows 10 is designed to be compatible with the hardware, software and peripherals that users already own.
It is intended to act as a unifying platform across PCs, tablets, smartphones, embedded systems, Xbox One, Surface Hub and Windows Holographic.
Shortly before the main release of the OS, Microsoft set the goal of installing it on to one billion devices.
However, the company’s plans took a major blow when it laid off 7,800 jobs in its smartphone business and wrote-down $7.6bn relating to its purchase of Nokia, which Microsoft bought for the lesser sum of $7.2bn.
The company recently confirmed that it will shut down its Finnish mobile phone unit and cut nearly 1,350 jobs in the country.
ZDNet quoted a Microsoft spokesperson as saying, “Windows 10 is off to the hottest start in history with over 350m monthly active devices, with record customer satisfaction and engagement.
“We're pleased with our progress to date, but due to the focusing of our phone hardware business, it will take longer than FY18 for us to reach our goal of 1 billion monthly active devices.
“In the year ahead, we are excited about usage growth coming from commercial deployments and new devices — and increasing customer delight with Windows."
Microsoft is currently allowing users to upgrade to Windows 10 at free of cost.
After 29 July, the company will charge a monthly subscription fee of $7 per seat for enterprise users who have not yet downloaded the OS.
