Japanese consumer electronics giant Sony is expected to make its debut in the Windows Phone market by launching its very first Windows Phone handset in 2014.

Not many smartphone manufacturers make Windows Phone handsets but the popularity of the operating system has been steadily growing. Nokia has the biggest range of Windows Phone 8 (WP8) handsets in the global market. Other companies such as Samsung, ZTE and Huawei also offers WP8 handsets but the extensive line up of WP8-powered Nokia handsets overshadows its rivals.

Sony launched a number of smartphones including the Xperia Z, Xperia ZL, Xperia Z Ultra and the Xperia Z1 in 2013. However, all the handsets were pre-loaded with the Android operating system. Nonetheless, if rumors are to be believed, Sony is in talks with Microsoft and may soon offer a smartphone, which will run on the Windows Phone operating system.

"Sony, whose mobile unit has exclusively made smartphones powered by Google's Android software for nearly four years, has considered launching a Windows phone as soon as mid-2014, according to a person who was involved in the talks and a person briefed about the device," reports The Information.

This is not the first time that rumors about a Windows Phone made by Sony are swirling in the smartphone space. A picture of a Sony Ericsson handset prototype, codenamed Jolie, running on Windows Phone 7 was spotted in 2010. However, the handset never made its way to shelves.

Even though Windows Phone operating system is becoming popular in the smartphone community, the platform is still far behind iOS and Android when it comes to adoption. However, if Sony joins the fray, Windows Phone will definitely receive the much-needed boost. Last month, news surfaced that Microsoft is purportedly offering Samsung $1 billion to make Windows Phone devices. Earlier, Microsoft had also struck a deal with Nokia, whereby the latter received $250 million every quarter to develop Windows Phone handsets. However, with Nokia;s hardware business now being acquired by Microsoft, and Samsung unwilling to turn its back on the open source operating platform Android, which has turned out to be its cash cow over the years and helped it become the No.1 smartphone maker in the world, a strategic partnership with Sony would do Microsoft a lot of good. 

Shares of Microsoft closed up 0.32 percent at $37.41 on the Nasdaq on Tuesday.