Microsoft Lumia McLaren Release Date; New Flagship Set For September 2015 Debut: Report

If you have been holding your breath for the next Windows Phone flagship release anytime soon, be prepared to be disappointed. The widely rumored, high-end Microsoft Lumia McLaren smartphone, which was set to release in March during the MWC 2015 event, has been pushed to a later date in September 2015. The information comes from Geekongadgets, which claims Microsoft will instead release low-end smartphones at the coveted event.

The industry sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told Geeksongadgets that the world's largest mobile convention will witness few low-end devices as well as the new 6-series Lumia smartphones from Microsoft. The sources also confirmed that there will be no high-end phones at the event. This is a huge risk for Microsoft against rivals like Samsung, Sony, HTC and LG, which are expected to launch their respective flagships sometime soon next year.

If the rumors are true, then Microsoft's next flagship and the Lumia 1020 successor, McLaren, will only set foot in the real world in September 2015. This means, the company's Lumia 920 and Lumia 1520 will continue to wear the flagship crown while they battle against the possible new releases like Galaxy S6, Xperia Z4, HTC One M9, LG G4 and others. And if Microsoft is choosing a September-window for its next flagship release, it will be a tough task to convince customers as it is around the time that Apple launches its new flagships.

Earlier reports indicated that Microsoft canceled the production of McLaren smartphones due to difficulties with its Kinect-like 3D touch technology. Last week, a new set of images was leaked showing a side-by-side comparison of the alleged Lumia McLaren with Apple iPhone 6.

Based on these rumors, it is hard to conclude what exactly is going on inside Microsoft's R&D center. It's best to wait for an official confirmation before drawing any conclusions. Microsoft is also holding an event in January, but that is mainly to unveil the consumer preview of the Windows 10 OS. There's also CES 2015 in January, so it will be exciting to see if Microsoft finds way to make any surprising announcements.