Microsoft's 2014: Restart or blue screen?

Computer store news: Microsoft's 2013, is simply a "disaster": Windows 8 operating system did not get enough attention, not many people buy Windows 8 tablet, Windows Phone 8 phone only defeated Poor BlackBerry, the controversial CEO Ballmer will also retire within 12 months.

Although the last paragraph seems to be a disaster, Microsoft's stock has soared 38%. The performance of the stock market interprets Microsoft's situation and dreams. From the news headlines of major technology media, Microsoft seems to be in big trouble, but analysts believe that Microsoft is more successful in the enterprise market. Although the failure of consumer products seems to be a serious problem, it has not disrupted Microsoft's position.

This problem has been around for a long time, but Microsoft still has the opportunity to change the status quo.

Up and down

Before we enter Microsoft's 2014 outlook, let's take a look at Microsoft's past performance. In October 2012, Microsoft officially failed to launch the Windows 8 operating system. Although consumers were not interested in this new operating system in the next few weeks, Microsoft sold 40 million Windows 8 licenses in two months. .

Worse still behind, Microsoft's own report said that sales in December 2012 were great, but the 2013 IDC report caused Microsoft's share price to fall 13.9%. In the fall of 2013, Microsoft updated Windows 8.1, bringing consumers the highest-selling “start” button.

In the first quarter of 2013, Microsoft's "iPad killer" Surface tablet only brought Microsoft $400 million in revenue, but the newly released Surface 2 tablet is very popular. , sold out in multiple retail stores. Microsoft's current CEO, Ballmer, announced in August that he will leave, and Microsoft executives have changed.

Prospects

A big part of Microsoft's future direction will depend on the CEO's choice, and the new CEO will be announced in early 2014 (in fact, Microsoft was previously announced at the end of 2013). , but it seems that there is no chance). It is understood that Ford Motor President Alan Mulally and Microsoft Cloud Business Director Satya Nadella may be the future CEO candidates.

But the CEO's choice must avoid repeating the mistakes of the BlackBerry. BlackBerry is a global mobile device that can securely send and receive emails. It once dominated the global commercial market, but it began to decline after the iPhone was released. Now it is even worse than Windows Phone, which was the beginning of BYOD (bring your own device). A questionnaire from TechRepublic shows that 62% of companies provide BYOD devices to employees. However, Microsoft's response to BYOD is slow and there are errors. I wanted Microsoft to dominate the world in the enterprise field with its operating system and browser. Now, the performance of BYOD is weak.

In 2013, Microsoft made a mistake in the field of tablets and smartphones. Although Microsoft has 90% of the desktop share, it does little to help the mobile space. Although Microsoft's mobile phones and tablets are very cool, most people just use PPT and do something unrelated to work.

Some of Microsoft's businesses are truly outstanding. In September 2013, Microsoft announced that Office 365 revenue was $1.5 billion. Forrester analyst Keitt said: "This is a milestone, and Microsoft is reinventing itself as a company that provides equipment and services. In other words, previous corporate users’ complaints about Microsoft’s lack of mobile and cloud service solutions are gone. Keitt said that this is some of the advantages of Microsoft.

The possibility of a breakthrough

Although we have seen Microsoft in the corporate market, it still has a lot of resistance in the consumer market. Sales of Surface and Surface Pro are not satisfactory, and Windows Phone smartphones don't know which year to catch the first echelon. While the $7.4 billion acquisition of Nokia can bring life and vitality to Microsoft's mobile business, Microsoft must not incite Google and Apple in 2014.

This is not to say that Microsoft is not doing well at the moment. Through the profitability of the enterprise market, Microsoft can use this money for the development of consumer products. Therefore, Microsoft still has the potential to make breakthroughs in the mobile field and compete with competitors in the end.

In 2014, it will be Microsoft's year of reshaping the consumer market. We can't expect Microsoft to make a big step, but we can expect it to move steadily. Learning Apple's boutique route may help Microsoft to create more sophisticated products. Although from a consumer perspective, Microsoft's prospects are not exciting, but it gives Microsoft the ideal environment for steady progress.