Microsoft declares transformation to meet new market demands 

“Going forward, our strategy will focus on creating a family of devices and services for individuals and businesses that empower people around the globe at home, at work and on the go, for the activities they value most,” Ballmer wrote to Microsoft employees. He added that the company will be taking advantage of its “critical competitive assets” to move to a business model based on partner and first-party devices with both consumer and enterprise services, to optimize activities people value most, to create a family of devices powered by a service-enabled shell, and to design for enterprise extensibility and enterprise needs. 

Ballmer foresees the creation of a “complete family” of Windows powered devices, manufactured by third parties. These will be “devices that can help people just as much in their work life as they do after hours. Devices that help people do more and play harder,” Ballmer noted. Microsoft will also “strive for a single experience for everything in a person’s life that matters,” the CEO added. Practically speaking, this means that users will have a unified experience across all devices- they will be able to access all of their applications and information anytime and anywhere. 

The family of hardware products that third-party manufacturers will produce on Microsoft’s behalf will include phones, tablets, PCs, 2-in-1s and TV-attached devices. Ballmer remarked that this family will grow to include devices that have yet to be imagined or developed. All of these devices will support a user’s activities to create a consistent experience.{mospagebreak}Ballmer’s announcement also touched on the company’s new enterprise strategy. Microsoft aims to facilitate the adoption of its devices and end-user strategy in business settings, assure the integrity of information in a changing compliance environment, provide insight into Big Data, improve customer interactions with businesses and continue to develop its popular enterprise software. 

Microsoft’s declaration of its shift was followed by a reshuffling of its leadership. Julie Larson-Green will now lead the devices and studio engineering group that oversees hardware development, games, music and entertainment. Terry Myerson now heads the operating systems and engineering group that bears responsibility for developing Windows. Qi Lu will direct the applications and services division, which handles productivity, communications, search and other information services. 

Industry experts speculate that Microsoft’s announcement comes on the heels of the decline in demand for PCs and the rise in popularity of tablets and other mobile devices. As a result of the company’s realignment, shares rose 50 cents to $32.50 in morning trading yesterday.