14 DAY TRIAL // Steve Ballmer has announced his decision to retire and leave someone else to manage the Redmond-based technology empire, but only little was said about the actual reason for this shocking announcement.
A chart posted by mobile analyst Benedict Evans shows exactly why Steve Ballmer had to go, revealing that Microsoft’s irrelevance in the mobile market is becoming much more obvious these days.
As you can see for yourselves, Microsoft has continued to focus on PCs in the last few years, even though iOS and Android devices have become a lot more popular.
Truth is, Ballmer has indeed tried to push Microsoft into the mobile markets too, with Windows Phone and Surface tablets, but since the company was late to the game, sales have been rather disappointing.
Whoever comes next needs not only to help Microsoft become relevant into these new markets, but also to continue the company’s transition to devices and services. So it’s pretty clear that the next two years are critical for Microsoft.