On March 29 2018, Microsoft announced a restructuring of the organization. Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft, explains how microsoft wants to focus on AI and cloud computing. A striking thing about this reorganization is that there won’t be a dedicated ‘windows OS’ department anymore. Whereas Windows OS used to be the core o
f the company, the focus now starts to shift.
Nadella repeatedly talks about helping users to seamlessly use their different devices during the day. Microsoft wants to play a leading role in making the connection between users’s devices more integrated. What is the reason for this shift of focus for Microsoft?
Microsoft windows OS and services like Microsoft office are still the number one software products for PC’s and laptops, with 600 million devices using Windows 10 and 900 million using another version, classical laptops and desktops sales are on a decline. On the other hand, sales of smartphones and tablets are steadily rising, with Apple and Google as major players as platforms for these devices. Apple now has 1 billion active devices, and Google’s android has the most widely used OS with 2 billion users. Microsoft has already tried to compete in the smartphone market once, in cooperation with Nokia, which wasn’t a very succesful endeavor in the end.
I think that their renewed focus will allow them to become a major player in the integration between devices, allowing users to easily switch between PC, smartphone and tablet. The popularity of the surface devices, which offer a hybrid experience as both a laptop and a tablet device give opportunity to grow market share for tablets. Also, the microsoft launcher for android devices was received relatively well (especially compared to the windows phone OS from years ago). I think that Microsoft’s new focus on the integration of devices and their success with the Surface products, builds a strong base to become a major ‘platform player’ for a wide variety of products. Perhaps this could even open up the smartphone market again for Microsoft.
Sources:
https://news.microsoft.com/2018/03/29/satya-nadella-email-to-employees-embracing-our-future-intelligent-cloud-and-intelligent-edge/
https://www.techradar.com/news/is-windows-dying
https://www.pcworld.com/article/3270959/windows/what-still-isnt-clear-about-the-future-of-windows-after-build-2018.html
https://www.theverge.com/2018/3/30/17179328/microsoft-windows-reorganization-future-2018
