Microsoft Windows Phone President confirms no Windows Phone 7 Tablets

Speaking at the Worldwide Partners Conference, Microsoft's Windows Phone president Andy Lees denied all claims suggesting future Windows tablets would run using the company's Windows Phone operating system.

According to a report from Electronista the president stated in no unclear terms that no future Windows tablets would be released running the company's smartphone OS. This was reportedly as the use of the Windows Phone OS would be "in conflict" with the company's policy to only create tablets capable of competing with PC's and laptops in terms of tech spec and functionality.

The news may not necessarily be good. Microsoft's previous insistence on PC features within its tablets has done little to help the company's share in the market.

Before the release of Apple's iPad, Microsoft was for a time the only real tablet provider. Yet, upon the original iPad's release this monopoly almost immediately vanished. In just nine months the iPad had managed to exceed all Windows Tablet PC's lifetime sales.

The company has also long been criticised for its insistence on using Intel Core processors rather than the more tablet friendly ARM chips.

For users, this means that the latest Mango version of the Windows Phone OS will be strictly off limits to tablet owners.

The one ray of hope for the Windows Tablet could be its new Windows 8 operating system. The OS is set to implement a new tiled interface similar to that of its Windows Phone 7 sibling -- indicating it could be more user friendly than the company's previous offerings.

Whether the decision will help reverse Microsoft's ailing smartphone and tablet sales is a matter of conjecture, though the strategy certainly hasn't worked thus far.