Samsung mulls Windows Phone as quarterly profit slump 37% to $5.8 billion

Samsung is reportedly considering releasing new smartphones running Microsoft’s Windows Phone platform, rather than Google Android, as it reports a 37% fall in quarterly profits compared to the same quarter a year earlier.

In a statement to investors, the tech giant reported it expects quarterly profits of $5.2 trillion won ($A5.8 billion) off a 32 trillion won fall in consolidated sales for the fourth quarter of 2014.

According to Bloomberg, despite consolidated sales being 12% lower than a year ago and a 37% year-on-year fall in profit, the result beat analysts’ forecasts.

News of the sluggish result came as the Korea Times reports Samsung is looking at releasing lower cost handsets running Windows Phone 8.1. It has reportedly already run pilot programs testing the stability of the operating system on its low-end devices.

Samsung, which has released devices running Windows Phone in the past, could potentially use the platform to differentiate its low-end devices from its flagship Galaxy S and Galaxy Note devices.

However, royalty payments and ongoing patent litigation remain stumbling blocks between the two companies.