Microsoft Strategy Surprises: 10 Baffling Moves by the Tech Giant
1. Where Is Windows Phone 7?Microsoft's mobile division is currently the joke of the enterprise. Windows Mobile software is losing market share by the day. And Windows Phone 7, the operating system that was supposed to carry the company into the next generation of smartphones, is still months away. Meanwhile, companies are finding an awful lot to like in other devices and mobile operating systems.
As one of the biggest companies in the technology industry, Microsoft continues to succeed even as the market changes around it, embracing mobility, cloud computer and other technologies disruptive to Microsoft's business model. At the same time, Microsoft's business is in decline. The company's most recent operating system isn't appealing to as many customers as the company might like, its mobile division is in ruin, and its online services are struggling to gain any kind of footing against the Google juggernaut. All the while, Microsoft is trying its best to stay relevant in the corporate world that is increasingly influenced by these disruptive forces. And staying relevant in that space is getting harder than ever. The competition is fierce, and thanks to some mistakes by the Redmond-based software giant, the competition is doing better than ever. Plus, a couple newer entrants -- Google and Apple -- are having success in the space when they never had before. Things are changing in the enterprise. And Microsoft's decisions in the face of that continue to surprise every stakeholder in the space. Here are some of the things that surprise companies most about Microsoft: