Microsoft Focused on Gaining Developer Momentum Behind Windows 10, CEO Says

January 28, 2015 by Paul Gluckman|Telecom Notes

Microsoft’s “most strategic objective” is to build “developer momentum” behind Windows 10, and that’s what the company is focusing on “with a lot of different actions,” CEO Satya Nadella said on an earnings call. Microsoft plans to release Windows 10 later this year as a free upgrade for Windows 7, 8 and 8.1 users who act to redeem the offer in the first year, Microsoft has said. Its goal with Windows 10 is to create a “great opportunity for every developer” to write these “universal” applications that will run on the desktop as well as on Microsoft phones and tablets, Nadella said Monday. With Windows 10, “we're building a device platform for the mobile-first, cloud-first world,” Nadella said. “It's a world where the mobility of a person's experience is paramount, requiring a platform that spans devices from small screens to large screens, to no screens at all. It's a world where interacting with technologies is as natural as interacting with other people and it's a world that demands trust and security." For developers, Windows 10 “will be the most attractive windows development platform ever,” Nadella said. “We ... have made this our most collaborative project yet with more than 2 million insiders giving us feedback every day.” Microsoft also is “making progress with our own devices,” Nadella said. For Q2 through Dec. 31, Microsoft surpassed the $1 billion revenue mark with its Surface tablets for the first time, he said. For Microsoft Surface, “the value proposition of being the most productive tablet is resonating,” he said. But the company's stock closed down 9.3 percent to $42.66 Tuesday. Microsoft sales of Lumia phones topped 10 million units in Q2 and are up 30 percent compared with the same quarter a year earlier, Nadella said. Sales were particularly strong of Lumia 500 and 600 series “affordable smartphones,” he said. “In this segment of the market, the combination of our brand and value stand out and we plan to continue to build a beachhead here.”