Microsoft Corporation (MSFT) Embraces Apple’s Way of Life

Microsoft Corporation is no longer a relic of an era long gone as the firm delights the tech space and Wall Street with great new products. The firm has seen massive changes with Satya Nadella at the helms and the changes show that the firm’s ship has now been righted. The firm now works with previous rivals in the tech space – it romance with Apple Inc is worthy of note as it becomes glaring that the firm is taking lessons from Apple.

Microsoft goes the Apple way

Microsoft was the subject of a blog post on Tech Pinions by Tim Bajarin, one of the one of the leading industry consultants in the PC and consumer tech space.

Tim delved into a history spanning almost two decades and he talked about the days when Steve Ballmer was at the helm and how he choose to dismiss the wave of change going on in the tech space. In his words, “often Steve Ballmer and I would meet or have lunch when he came down to Silicon Valley to discuss Microsoft’s visions and strategies and he would try and convince me Microsoft was on track to dominate the PC world well into the future”.

Now, Microsoft under Satya Nadella has embraced change as the firms find new ways to stay relevant in a fast-changing tech space. The most recent event, which screamed change, was the unveiling of the Surface Book. The Surface Book is a feature-filled premium hybrid that is designed to work with the way users work with touch, pen, or a mouse. Microsoft makes and sells the Surface Book as it tries to own and control the entire line of its product.

Microsoft’s move to control its future by making the software and hardware puts it in direct rivalry with its OEM partners. More so, the firm has started opening retail stores that have a look and feel of something straight out of Apple’s playbook. Tim says, “if you look at Microsoft’s new strategy, one can’t help but see this is an Apple’s business model of owning the hardware, software and services is ultimately the best one that assures Microsoft’s control of their destiny.”

Can Microsoft succeed by copying Apple?

Apple has built a name as one of the best success stories in tech, the firm holds the record to the most profitable quarter ever, and it sits atop more than $200B in cash. Microsoft by was almost on the way to being extinct before the firm started its pivot under Nadella. It appears that Microsoft’s move to copy Apple would turn out to be a smart move – at least based on results of a study by Argus Insights. The study, “Battle Of The Brands 2015,” claims that “since January, consumers’ emotive areas have been positively twitching about Microsoft.”