Joe Belfiore continued that he had also shifted to Android himself.
Windows 10 Mobile attempted to attract users by making them run the same “universal apps” on both their PCs and handsets, but the thought failed to catch on.
The OS accounted for just 0.03% of the global market based on smartphone purchases between April and June, according to analysis company IDC.
The market intelligence provider told the news had been a long time coming.
“There wasn’t a wide range of devices covering Windows 10 Mobile, so it wasn’t beautiful to retailers or operators,” said IDC’s Francisco Jeronimo.
“And from a customer perspective, the operating system didn’t give as good an experience as Android or iOS.”
Mr. Belfiore began a string of tweets on Sunday by considering the recent launch of a test version of Microsoft’s Edge web browser for Android and iOS the latest in a string of releases of its core software for rival mobile platforms.
He then went on to answer questions about whether there was any end holding with Windows 10 Mobile.
He said that while Microsoft would continue to support the “many companies” that had embraced the platform, he had switched to Android for the diversity of its apps and hardware.
“Of course we’ll remain to support the platform… bug fixes, security updates, et cetera,” he said.
“But building new features or hardware is not the focus.”
Mr. Belfiore posted Microsoft had tried “very hard” to incentivize other companies to deliver universal apps even writing their apps for them in some cases but a number of users had been too low for most to bother.
The publication comes a week after HP had said it no longer planned to release further Windows 10 Mobile handsets, and a fortnight after Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates revealed that he had already made the switch to Android.
However, some companies – including the UK’s Wileyfox and Germany’s TrekStor had revealed new models powered by Windows 10 Mobile as recently as last month.
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