Tech Growth Seen Through 2015

The technology markets that Microsoft sells into could almost double by 2015, according to forecasts that the company presented at its 2011 event for financial analysts. Microsoft’s high-level forecasts could in turn guide the strategic plans of its business customers and partners and help them anticipate the company’s long-term priorities. However, Microsoft will have to clear some important short-term obstacles to follow its long-term roadmap.

Build Conference Backdrop for Forecasts

Microsoft Chief Financial Officer Peter Klein outlined the company’s plans in his presentation at the Sept. 2011 Financial Analyst Meeting, which took place during the company’s Build developer conference in Anaheim, CA. (For a chart of leaders and business units that were prominent at the meeting, see the illustration “Who’s in Charge?“.)

Klein began by charting analyst and Microsoft forecasts for total “addressable market” size in five areas of Microsoft’s business from 2010 to 2015:

• Platform software,