Case Study: Microsoft: New Win in an Old Bottle

Executive summary

In order to pursuit the success in the “mobile first and cloud first” world defined by its new CEO Nadella, Microsoft has a hard battle to win in the very mobile market. The success of the mobile market will not only make sure Microsoft’s impact in the mobile market, but also help the Windows Operating System to get rid of the deep dependence on the PCs if only Microsoft’s mobile devices will be built on the Windows Operating System.

Sticking to the Windows Operating other than switching to other Operating System like Android is exactly the key factor for Microsoft’s success in mobile devices. The unified user interface and consistent user experience that the Windows Mobile Operating System and the Windows Desktop System can provide are significant in attracting the users. Increasing users will also attract more developers to move onto Windows Mobile Operating System. Other measures in winning developers’ support should also be applied such as easy access to powerful develop environment and chances for users to be developers.

Connections combining all Microsoft product and service are also vital to the success and Microsoft does have connections it can make. Connection within hardware between the mobile devices and XBOX by making the mobile devices the portable peripherals for XBOX will enable users to play anywhere.  Connection between the mobile devices and the cloud service by making the mobile devices the clients to the cloud service is a good example to combine the product and the service for Microsoft.

All in all, the mobile devices centered products and service line will be the strongest countermeasure Microsoft can take to fight with the advantages its opponents have. And the software based on the Windows platform and hardware with Nokia’s expertise even reinforces this countermeasure.

Problem Identification

With the succession of Steve Ballmer by Satya Nadella as CEO of Microsoft, three main challenges were also handed over to the New CEO, which included the how to maintain the success of Windows Operating System; how to make up the missing in mobile market and how to integrate Nokia that Steve acquired. Although the three main challenges that Nadella, the new CEO of Microsoft, faced span different areas including software products, hardware products as well as the acquisition and the integration of Nokia for Microsoft, these challenges have connections with each other in fact. The dominance of Windows was shaken rather by the Operating System products from Microsoft’s competitor than by the drop of the PC market. By the end of September 2014, Windows 7 still ranked 1st with 52.71% market share for desktop Operating system. Meanwhile, the veteran Windows XP still has 23.87% market share, which ranked 2nd. Together they occupied more than 75% market share, which still prove the dominance of Windows in desktop operating system market.1 Even if there must be other reasons for the drop of PC market; it is no doubt that the raise for smartphone and tablet contribute most. So it is clear that the fate of Windows and the future of Microsoft’s mobile devices are more or less combined with each other. If Nadella can finally figure a way to lead Microsoft claim more shares in the smartphone and tablets market with devices running Windows Operating System, the fate of Windows will not come under question. The acquisition of Nokia, in this situation, is then the first step which showed the ambition of Microsoft about the mobile device market. The success of Microsoft in the smartphone and tablet market starts with the successful integration of Nokia.