Microsoft Admits Business Perils as Windows Continues to Fall
Yesterday in Indian press, quoting Satya Nadella:
Case of point:
Libre Liberia: Windows Down to 8% in Liberia (December 2024) | Liberty in Liberia? Windows Falls Below 10% and Below iOS (May 2024)
Now:
Microsoft developed a range of cash cows in the 1990s. The famous and very large "cows" were Windows and Office.
Windows is becoming less relevant and less expensive because, having lost its monopoly in many market segments, Microsoft cannot command the prices anymore. Windows Vista was sold in various "editions" and as far back as 2006 (nearly two decades ago) Microsoft wanted to charge people as much as $500 if not significantly more per copy (or per PC it gets installed on). For many, that was the price of merely 'upgrading', i.e. moving from XP to Vista or replacing one with another. Imagine one PC having 3 versions of Windows on it throughout its lifetime; would that cost over $1000 for the "OS" alone? That makes no sense. Nowadays you can buy a completely fine PC (hardware, that is) for less than $100. Just don't run Windows on it.
Microsoft's situation in Liberia (as shown above) is just one example of Windows becoming a dying breed; it's even smaller than iOS in some poor African nations.
Satya Nadella now openly admits the "business model" problem; charging people per hour has failed (Microsoft tried Windows as a "service" or "in the clown" about half a decade ago) as it could only make ChromeOS or GNU/Linux more attractive ("unlimited") and shoving ads down people's throat at the OS level is suicide for users' productivity, focus and so on.
Satya Nadella must also realise that shareholders lose patience when it comes to ridiculous "hey hi" (hype). They want to see money, not buzzwords and worthless gimmicks. So expect more "Quantum" hype (or similar). They have nothing to sell there. It's 100% vapourware. █