Microsoft CEO Admits Windows Mobile Market Share Unsustainable, To Focus On Services

Microsoft introduced the powerful Windows 10 operating system for mobile and desktop towards the mid of 2015. This OS version is reported to be active in 200 million devices across the globe. But then, the company is not without its issues. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella recently spoke about the problem area and also the domains the company will be concentrating this year.

During an interview with BuzzFeed News, Nadella has apparently said Microsoft’s Windows Phone market share is "unsustainable." However, he thinks, companies should focus on the “services” rather than just the “device.”

According to him, “market share” should not be the only criteria to measure success but the overall “mobile experience” with stellar services should be accounted. Perhaps, the company’s ambitious “Continuum” specific to Windows 10 could be one of the key areas Microsoft will be concentrating with regard to services.

In his own words: "I think we do ourselves a disservice if we measure our success by just looking at: What’s the market share of HoloLens? What’s the market share of Xbox? What’s the market share of PCs? What’s the market share of our phones?"

“If you think of this more like a graph, these [devices] are all nodes. Sometimes the user will use all of these devices … sometimes they’ll use only one or two of our devices and some other platforms — so be it. But we want to make sure that we are completing the experience across all of these devices,” he added further.

The market research firm Gartner recently reported that the Windows Phone market share is just 1.7 percent, down nearly 50 percent compared to the third quarter of 2014, GSM Arena reported.

On the other hand, Microsoft’s cloud business is apparently on the right track and the company is making profits. To top it off, productivity suites like Office, Outlook and gaming consoles like Xbox are doing relatively well. As BuzzFeed puts it, except for the OS penetration, Microsoft seems to be booming in other areas.