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Then why did they drop Mobile?

• mathw 9y ago
  Because it was no longer worth throwing money after. Instead they're working to make sure Microsoft technologies - their accounts, their email, their Office products etc. - work well on iOS and Android devices. They're also working to enable cross-platform mobile development using Microsoft technologies (i.e. they bought Xamarin), which helps with getting app developers using (and paying for) Azure backend services because of course Microsoft provide solid .NET SDKs for Azure services. I suspect they'll make another effort to break into the mobile device space in the future, but it probably won't be for a while. Where's the marketplace opportunity at the moment? At least until they can distance themselves from the current perception of their mobile experience.
  • was_boring 9y ago
    Exactly. It was Ballmer who started the mobile strategy and it was up to Nadella to salvage it. Making sure Office, etc., work well on Android and iOS is perfectly in line with his idea that you can work with competitors to increase revenue for everyone involved. Contrast this with Amazon, who believes that it is a winner takes all market, and they do not have support for their competitor's products and even refuse to list them in their store.