Chief Executive Steve Ballmer plans to take Microsoft in a new direction by shifting the company from a focus purely on software, that is downloaded onto personal computers or on corporate computing networks, into something of a hybrid of rivals Apple Inc. and Google Inc.
One of the major strategic plays, set in motion by the purchase of Nokia Corporation's mobile-phone business, is to take their Microsoft Windows Office competitive advantage to the mobile marketplace of smartphones and tablets. Today, Microsoft Office's bundle of software (including Word to write documents, spreadsheet maker Excel and PowerPoint for presentations) has been dominant in the workplace and home offices using personal and network computers...and...customer satisfaction levels are very high.
But the problem is Word, Excel and some other Office software doesn't work on smartphones and tablets like the popular Apple iPad. (However, there is a stripped-down version of Office, called Office Web Apps, that Microsoft recommends people use on the Apple Inc. tablet.) Also, the Web-friendly Office 365 is more collaborative than prior editions of Office, but there are kinks. For example, in an online version of Excel, two people can't have the same spreadsheet open at once. (Microsoft says this feature is coming.)
Microsoft has said its subscription version of the Office business-software bundle is on pace to generate $1.5 billion a year in annual revenue. The challenge is to take this competitive Office advantage to the mobile marketplace through the company's new Surface tablets and future Nokia smartphones---allowing people and organizations to utilize these mobile devices more productively.
Today, most people are doing some work on smartphones and tablets they own:
93% use a smartphone for work at least sometimes.
42% use a tablet for work at least sometimes.
87% of those who use a smartphone or tablet for work own the device.
Today's employees not only can access their email on the go but also are increasingly able to use many of the applications they need for work. And 80% of the devices they use to do that are owned by the workers themselves (probably because Microsoft hasn't created the appropriate software to tie the mobile market into organizational software like Microsoft Windows Office along with the company's Surface tablets and Nokia smartphones). The mobile devices being used today come from a variety of manufacturers.
It is good to know that Microsoft leadership is planning to take advantage of a strategic marketing opportunity and "get it right" in the mobile marketplace---as they have previously with their Windows personal computer software and Windows Internet Explorer browser.