Tuesday, March 4, 2014

Regrets? I've had a few, says Ballmer, but buying Nokia ain't one of them

Regrets? I've had a few, says Ballmer, but buying Nokia ain't one of them

Steve wishes Microsoft had united software and hardware earlier

Former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer told an audience at Oxford University that convincing the board to sign off on the purchase of Nokia was one of his toughest tasks, during a 14-year spell in charge.

During the lengthy chat, the larger-than-life Baller, who handed over the reins to Satya Nadella last month, said snapping up a phone-maker was a tough sell, given Microsoft's deep roots as a software company.

He said: "It's important because the name of the company is Microsoft," he said "It was a fundamental part of the founding principles: we were a software company.

"And yet: Xbox, Surface and now the phone, and we have a profile that will end up being mixed in the future. That's a pretty fundamental change."

United we stand

Ballmer also owned up to a few mobile missteps during his tenure as Bill Gates' successor, including the company's hesitance to unite the company's hardware and software strategies.

He added: "In the last 10 years, there are things that didn't go so well. We would have had a strong position in the phone market. The thing I regret is that we didn't put hardware and software together quicker."

If you're so inclined, you can watch the full chat below.


Source : http://www.techradar.com/news/phone-and-communications/mobile-phones/regrets-i-ve-had-a-few-says-ballmer-but-buying-nokia-ain-t-one-of-them-1231102

0 comments:

Post a Comment