Microsoft may be making own phone - analyst

SEATTLE (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp is looking at making its own smartphone to kickstart sales of its Windows mobile software, according to a Wall Street analyst who has followed the company for many years.

The talk - unconfirmed by Microsoft - comes a day after the company unveiled its latest Windows Phone 8 software, and the same week it announced an own-brand tablet, signaling a break with 37 years of focusing on software and leaving hardware manufacturing to its partners.

"Our industry sources tell us that Microsoft may be working with a contract manufacturer to develop their own handset for Windows Phone 8," wrote Nomura analyst Rick Sherlund in a note to clients on Thursday.

"It is unclear to us whether this would be a reference platform or whether this may be a go-to market Microsoft-branded handset," wrote Sherlund, who covered Microsoft for Goldman Sachs when the bank brought Microsoft public in 1986.

Microsoft did not confirm or deny the speculation. A spokesman said the company was a "big believer in our hardware partners and together we're focused on bringing Windows Phone 8 to market this year."

Windows Phone 8 is the latest version of Microsoft's mobile software, set for release in autumn. So far, the software giant has struggled to make a mark, with Windows-powered smartphones taking only 2 percent of a worldwide market dominated by Apple Inc's