Microsoft’s Narrowed Phone Focus Seen Forcing Exit Down the Line

For Microsoft Corp. even dramatically scaled back plans in smartphones are probably too ambitious.

After writing down almost all the value of the Nokia handset unit the company acquired a year ago and cutting about four-fifths of Nokia’s employees, Chief Executive Officer Satya Nadella will refocus on a smaller number of handsets for three groups of people: business users, cost-conscious customers and Windows lovers.