In the aftermath of the announcement that Microsoft plans to manufacture its own tablet, an analyst who has been closely following the company for nearly two decades believes the company could be working on its own phone handset as well.

“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 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,” Mr. Sherlund wrote. “We would not be surprised if Microsoft were to decide to bring their own handset to market next year, given that Microsoft has decided to bring to market their own Windows 8 tablet/PC products.”

Microsoft has neither confirmed nor denied what Mr. Sherlund’s speculation.

In a response to a query from Reuters, a Microsoft spokesperson said the company is a  ”big believer in our hardware partners and together we’re focused on bringing Windows Phone 8 to market this year.”

“We expect the release to benefit sentiment as WP8 has the potential to reverse market share losses in mobile,” Mr. Sherlund concluded.