Ballmer’s Biggest Hits and Misses at Microsoft

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March 29, 2023

Ballmer’s Biggest Hits and Misses at Microsoft

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For all the discussion about whether Tim Cook should be replaced as Apple’s CEO(Opens in a new window), it was Microsoft that opted for a CEO shakeup today with the announcement that Steve Ballmer will step down as CEO within the next 12 months. He will remain in charge until a successor is selected, but Redmond is moving on without him.

In a note to staff(Opens in a new window), Ballmer said Microsoft needs a CEO who “will be here for the longer term” as the firm transforms into the “One Microsoft” Ballmer outlined earlier this summer. One awkwardly phrased sentence said that his “original thoughts on timing would have had my retirement happen in the middle of our transformation to a devices and services company focused on empowering customers in the activities they value most,” suggesting that this retirement is coming a bit earlier than planned.

“This is an emotional and difficult thing for me to do. I take this step in the best interests of the company I love; it is the thing outside of my family and closest friends that matters to me most,” Ballmer wrote.

Ballmer has been with Microsoft since 1980 and has served as its CEO since 2000. But he really took control in 2008 after Bill Gates stepped down as chairman to pursue philanthropic efforts, making Ballmer the public face of Microsoft.

With more than a decade on the job, Ballmer has overseen his share of hits and misses, from the blockbuster sales of the Xbox 360 to the lackluster reception of Windows 8. Check out the slideshow for some of Microsoft’s more notable hits and misses under Ballmer.

1. Hit: Windows 7

Hit: Windows 7

Windows 7 was introduced in 2009 as a “simpler, faster” alternative to Microsoft’s much-maligned Windows Vista. Windows 7 did not disappoint, and as of July, it was still the most popular desktop OS around the globe, with 44.49 percent market share, according to Net Applications.

2. Miss: Windows 8

Miss: Windows 8

Windows 8, meanwhile, only has about 5.4 percent of the global desktop OS market – behind XP’s 37 percent. Windows 8 was released in Oct. 2012 with a much more touch-centric UI. PC users, however, weren’t quite ready for such a big overhaul of the OS, especially since it was a little cumbersome for those who didn’t have a touch-based device. The first major upgrade to the OS, Windows 8.1, is expected in October, but it’s not quite nipping at the heels of Windows 7 just yet (or XP, for that matter).

3. Hit: Xbox

Hit: Xbox

Steve Ballmer became Microsoft’s CEO in 2000, so the Xbox could be considered a hit during his tenure. The Xbox 360 debuted in 2005 and has been going strong ever since. As of April 2013, it had sold more than 77 million Xbox 360 consoles, and consumers are still snapping them up even as Redmond prepares for the November launch of the Xbox One. By now, the Xbox has morphed into an entertainment device rather than just a gaming console, helping to attract average consumers as well as gamers. That’s likely to continue with the Xbox One, which ties in tightly with the TV experience.

4. Miss (But Maybe a Hit): Windows Phone

Miss (But Maybe a Hit): Windows Phone

Microsoft was in the mobile game for a long time via Windows Mobile, but it really struck out against iOS and Android with Windows Phone 7 in 2010. The mobile OS has struggled to gain significant market share, chugging along in the single digits while Android sits pretty on more than half of the world’s smartphones. But Windows Phone was very well reviewed, and those who try it out seem to love it, as evidenced by PCMag’s recent Readers’ Choice survey. It has slowly gained market share over the years, thanks to a big push from Nokia and its Lumia devices. So it’s a miss in the sense that it hasn’t really provided major competition for iOS and Android, but there might still be some life there yet.

5. Hit: Outlook.com

Hit: Outlook.com

Outlook.com launched in the summer of 2012, and it gained 25 million active users in just under four months. PCMag named Outlook.com as the top Web app in our Best Products of 2012 list, describing it as “the best thing to happen to email in years.” Microsoft has since converted Hotmail accounts into Outlook, helping it top 400 million active accounts on its one-year anniversary. More recently, Microsoft incorporated Skype for all Outlook.com customers in North America.

6. Miss: Microsoft Surface Tablets

Miss: Microsoft Surface Tablets

In June 2012, Microsoft sent out invites for a mysterious event in Los Angeles, where it unveiled the Surface tablet, surprising everyone – including its Windows partners. The gamble hasn’t exactly paid off for Redmond, though. In a recent quarterly Form 10-K filing, Redmond revealed that Surface revenue was $853 million between Oct. 2012 and June 2013. But Microsoft recently incurred a $900 million charge for Surface RT inventory adjustments, and boosted advertising costs for Windows 8 and the Surface by $898 million. The resulted in a lawsuit that accused Redmond of hiding poor Surface RT sales, which resulted in huge losses for company shareholders.

7. Hit: Microsoft Office

Hit: Microsoft Office

Despite the proliferation of cloud-based services like Google Docs, as well as similar offerings from Apple, there’s no denying that Microsoft Office is still the go-to tool for most PC users. Microsoft embraced the cloud in 2010 with Office 365, and officially extended that to consumers this year with the online, subscription-based Office 365 Home Premium. Redmond also introduced versions of the software for Apple’s iPhone and Android phones, though tablet versions are still in the works.

8. Miss: Zune

Miss: Zune

The last time the Zune was really in the news was late 2011 and the debate was over whether or not Microsoft’s troubled music player was actually dead. The last iteration of the device, the Zune HD, was well reviewed, earning our Editors’ Choice. But it couldn’t compete with the iPod, especially after it was added to the iPhone. Unlike Windows Phone, it failed to gain market share and eventually met its demise.

9. Hit: Azure

Hit: Azure

“Microsoft has and continues to have one steady revenue source; its position in the enterprise, not just the in U.S., but globally,” write PCMag’s networking analyst, Samara Lynn. “Where it may have made missteps on the consumer side in the mobile space, it’s making advances on the enterprise side with the Azure cloud platform and virtualization: two major technologies that will change and are changing the business technology datacenter. With businesses already steeped in the Microsoft ecosystem, moving to Microsoft cloud and virtual platforms will be a natural transition for many of them.”

10. Miss: Kin Phones

Miss: Kin Phones

In 2010, Microsoft tried to capitalize on the explosion of social networks with its Kin phones. But as PCMag’s Sascha Segan pointed out at the time, they acted like feature phones but were priced like full smartphones, with high monthly fees, no apps, and mediocre social-networking integration. After only a few months, Microsoft killed the Kin lineup to focus on Windows Phone 7.

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Source link : https://www.pcmag.com/news/ballmers-biggest-hits-and-misses-at-microsoft