Direction Shift, Board Change in Annual Report

In conjunction with the release of its 2012 Annual Report to shareholders, released Oct. 2012, Microsoft signaled a shift in business direction as well as the loss of a key board member.

Devices and services a bigger focus. While pledging to continue to work “with a vast ecosystem of partners” to provide customers with choices for traditional desktop and laptop computers, as well as tablets and phones, CEO Steve Ballmer reiterated in a letter accompanying the Annual Report that Microsoft will now “build specific devices for specific purposes,” such as the Xbox gaming and entertainment platform and the recently announced Microsoft Surface Windows 8 and Windows RT tablets. And these devices, whether from partners or Microsoft, will “focus relentlessly on delivering delightful, seamless experiences across hardware, software and services.” In the future, these services, which will include products such as Office or Microsoft Dynamics, will be available on-premises, from the cloud, or a combination of both. Ballmer’s letter to employees, partners, and shareholders is part of Microsoft’s 2012 Annual Report, which is at www.microsoft.com/investor/reports/ar12/index.html.