Microsoft turpina “atkratīties” no Nokia atliekām, tomēr neatzīst savu mobilās stratēģijas krahu

Pirms nedēļas jau vēstījām, ka Microsoft par smiekla naudu ir pārdevis savu no Nokia nopirkto “dumjtelefonu” biznesu un tādējādi atbrīvojies no 4500 darbiniekiem. Šodien Microsoft turpina labot kompānijas iepriekšējā vadītāja Stīvena Balmera pieļauto kļūdu – Nokia mobilā biznesa iegādi un paziņo par vēl 1850 darbinieku atlaišanu, kā arī 950 miljonu ASV dolāru “norakstīšanu”. 1350 darbinieki tiks atlaisti Microsoft Mobile Oy uzņēmumā Somijā. Par gaidāmajām izmaiņām Microsoft plāno pastāstīt plašāk 19. jūlijā.

Windows Phone tirgus daļa paslīdējusi zem 1%, taču programmatūras gigants nevēlas atzīt sakāvi mobilo tehnoloģiju jomā un paziņo, ka turpinās piedāvāt mobilās tehnoloģijas un ierīces biznesa klientiem, kā arī nodrošinās iespēju citiem ierīču ražotājiem izstrādāt ierīces, kas tiks darbinātas ar Windows 10 Mobile. Tās, starp citu, tagad varēs kļūt arī vēl lielākas.

Atgādināšu, ka Microsoft vistiešākajā mērā ir vainojams pie Nokia mobilo telefonu biznesa iznīcināšanas. Tas sākās 2010. gadā, kad par uzņēmuma vadītāju kļuva bijušais Microsoft Office un Dynamics biznesa divīzijas vadītājs Stīvens Elops. Ne velti viņš tiek dēvēts par pasaulē sliktāko vadītāju, jo spēja Somijas telekomunikāciju grandu dažu gadu laikā nolaist līdz kliņķim un par nieka 7.2 miljardiem ASV dolāru pārdot to Microsoft. Pāris gadu laikā Microsoft šī eksperimenta seku likvidēšanai iztērēja vismaz 8 miljardus ASV dolāru un atlaida vairumu pārņemto darbinieku. Tagadējais Microsoft vadītājs Satja Nadela nav ieinteresēts izmest naudu vējā mēģinot tiešā veidā konkurēt ar Android un iOS dominētajā mobilo tehnoloģiju tirgū.

Zemāk var iepazīties ar e-pasta ziņojumu, ko Microsoft darbiniekiem izsūtīja Windows un Ierīču divīzijas vadītājs Terijs Maijersons (Terry Myerson):

To: Microsoft – All Employees

From: Terry Myerson

Date: Wednesday 5/25, 2AM Pacific Time

Subject: Focusing our phone hardware efforts

Team,

Last week we announced the sale of our feature phone business. Today I want to share that we are taking the additional step of streamlining our smartphone hardware business, and we anticipate this will impact up to 1,850 jobs worldwide, up to 1,350 of which are in Finland. These changes are incredibly difficult because of the impact on good people who have contributed greatly to Microsoft. Speaking on behalf of Satya and the entire Senior Leadership Team, we are committed to help each individual impacted with our support, resources, and respect.

For context, Windows 10 recently crossed 300 million monthly active devices, our Surface and Xbox customer satisfaction is at record levels, and HoloLens enthusiasts are developing incredible new experiences. Yet our phone success has been limited to companies valuing our commitment to security, manageability, and Continuum, and with consumers who value the same. Thus, we need to be more focused in our phone hardware efforts.

With this focus, our Windows strategy remains unchanged:

1. Universal apps. We have built an amazing platform, with a rich innovation roadmap ahead. Expanding the devices we reach and the capabilities for developers is our top priority.

2. We always take care of our customers, Windows phones are no exception. We will continue to update and support our current Lumia and OEM partner phones, and develop great new devices.

3. We remain steadfast in our pursuit of innovation across our Windows devices and our services to create new and delightful experiences.Our best work for customers comes from our device, platform, and service combination.

At the same time, our company will be pragmatic and embrace other mobile platforms with our productivity services, device management services, and development tools — regardless of a person’s phone choice, we want everyone to be able to experience what Microsoft has to offer them.

With that all said… I used the words “be more focused” above. This in fact describes what we are doing (we’re scaling back, but we’re not out!), but at the same time I don’t love it because it lacks the emotional impact of this decision. When I look back on our journey in mobility, we’ve done hard work and had great ideas, but have not always had the alignment needed across the company to make an impact. At the same time, Ars Technica recently published a long story documenting our journey to create the universal platform for our developers. The story shows the real challenges we faced, and the grit required to get it done. The story closes with this:

And as long as it has taken the company, Microsoft has still arguably achieved something that its competitors have not… It took more than two decades to get there, but Microsoft still somehow got there first.

For me, that’s what focus can deliver for us, and now we get to build on that foundation to build amazing products.

Terry