Steve Ballmer thinks Xbox and Surface are necessary to stay relevant

Steve Ballmer has been CEO of Microsoft for more than thirteen years. In that time, the technology industry has changed completely on more than one occasion and the company has had to readjust over and over again. The last step is the transition to a device and services company, a process that is not without difficulties but that Ballmer considers essential.

These and other issues are part of the conversations that the journalist Mary Jo Foley had with the still CEO in her offices in Redmond. In her words it is clear that, beyond its presence in the software and services market,Ballmer believes that Microsoft needs to get into the manufacturing of its own hardware to remain relevant

Xbox was needed for the Surface to exist

Ballmer's analysis is as simple as it is evident:

Xbox served precisely that purpose. In what is almost a direct response to those who think Microsoft should get rid of its video game console, Ballmer says that by making it they were able to develop fundamental skills in hardware and device development. The existence of that body of prior knowledge is what has allowed the company to now delve into manufacturing devices such as Surface tablets.

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Of course, for Ballmer, the decision to manufacture tablets first-hand is somehow… a tougher bet>was not going to be easy to explain to Microsoft&39;s traditional partners , which it intends to continue to maintain.Some of whom came to publicly express their discomfort with the new role of manufacturer for those from Redmond."

Need to change to keep competing

Microsoft had no choice. In Redmond there were concerns about the existence of areas in which they lacked the competition to fight with Apple. Areas that they weren't addressing fast enough and well enough through their partners. This concern was also greater in the high-end of devices. Ballmer understands that a product or a brand capable of competing face to face with its rivals was missing.

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It wasn&39;t about starting to make traditional-style laptops or PCs, categories in which Ballmer believes its partners do a great job>complementing the work of their partners by making them stronger step in the process, so that together they can be in a position to better compete in the future."

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Ballmer sees Microsoft as a company that knows how to create great software for both productivity and entertainment. But he believes that in the future these areas will be addressed mainly throughservices available on all types of devicesThat is why he considers the change he is driving to the world to be fundamental end of his time at the helm of Microsoft. Because as he himself says: Nobody buys Windows. They buy Windows PCs ."

Via | ZDNet Image | Microsoft