????微軟犯下的另一個大錯就是，推動Windows成為移動設備領先操作系統的計劃遭遇慘敗。蘋果當然使用自己的操作系統iOS，而幾乎所有其他制造商都在使用谷歌的安卓操作系統(Android)。為了加快讓移動設備制造商，特別是新興市場的制造商采用Windows系統，微軟最近停止向智能手機和平板電腦制造商收取這款操作系統的授權使用費。

????于微軟而言，這樣做不啻為一場豪賭，因為它犧牲了Windows帶來的授權收入。但該公司希望此舉將幫助這款操作系統能被更多移動設備采用，從而吸引更多開發商為這些設備開發應用程序，最終獲取回報。但目前對此感興趣的開發商寥寥無幾，因為大多數人使用的是安裝iOS或安卓系統的手機。

????微軟的移動市場份額極其寒磣。根據市場研究機構互聯網數據中心(IDC)提供的數據，在去年年底，Windows手機僅占全球智能手機出貨量的3％，而安卓和蘋果手機的份額則分別為78％和18％。

????道森表示，微軟必須徹底反思其Windows策略，而不是僅僅做一些微調。該公司應該讓所有設備（而不僅僅是智能手機）免費使用這款操作系統。它應該通過銷售附加服務來換取收入。他的建議反映了其他市場參與者的策略：蘋果公司的Mac電腦隨機贈送一套操作系統，谷歌的Chromebook筆記本電腦亦是如此。他說從長遠來看，等待只會讓微軟的處境變得更加艱難。

????“一個大問題是，他們如何將這套軟件的售價降低到零或接近零的水平？”道森問道。

????除了跟更多移動設備制造商結為合作伙伴外，微軟還希望借此提升自己的移動設備銷量。作為這種決心的標志之一，該公司今年早些時候斥資75億美元，完成了對芬蘭手機制造商諾基亞(Nokia) 的設備和服務業務的收購。

????分析師表示，微軟應該集中心思制造廉價手機，退出高端設備市場，雖然技術愛好者通常不會贊揚廉價手機，但它們是這家公司獲取一些必要市場份額的唯一希望。

????在道森看來，微軟同時進軍平板電腦市場的策略基本上已宣告失敗。2012年，該公司推出Surface平板電腦，引起轟動。但IDC預測稱，Surface去年的市場份額不到1%——遠遠落后于蘋果和安卓——今年則有望達到2%。

????“這項目標看起來已經失敗了?，”道森說。

????魯賓表示，納德拉應該縮減微軟的消費產品，以更專注于企業客戶。微軟已經擁有一個購買其服務器，依賴其數據中心的企業客戶群。戴爾(Dell)目前正在推行這一策略，這家曾經的消費電腦制造商后來將經營重心轉向公司客戶。與此同時，在消費市場步履維艱的惠普公司(Hewlett-Packard )也開始增加在企業市場的賭注。

????這是納德拉在《財富》科技頭腦風暴大會期間，把微軟稱為一家“生產力和平臺”公司，而不是一家“設備和服務”公司的原因之一。（后一種表述出自他的前任史蒂夫?鮑爾默。）生產力至少意味著工作和其他瑣事，但納德拉給出的定義是如此寬泛——比如，通過給頁面拍照來自動翻譯一份菜譜——以至于它幾乎意味著任何東西。

????“側重于生產力有助于將微軟跟谷歌和蘋果區別開來，這兩家公司已經把消費類設備和服務確立為它們的目標市場，”魯賓說。“微軟期望專業人士將更加傾向于這家把他們的目標置于廣告商之前（一如谷歌的做法），同時在IT管理服務領域擁有優勢（蘋果公司依然不具備這種優勢）的公司。”

????納德拉預計將在7月22日，微軟發布其季度營收報告之際，透露其重組計劃的更多細節。這家公司悠久的重組歷史給納德拉的計劃蒙上了一層陰影：多年來，盡管歷任高管自信滿滿，但無數次旨在重振微軟雄風的重組計劃幾乎總是以失敗告終。（財富中文網）

????譯者：葉寒

????In another blunder, Microsoft failed miserably in making Windows a leading operating system for mobile devices. Apple, of course, uses its own operating system, iOS, while nearly every other manufacturer uses Google’s Android. To accelerate adoption among mobile device-makers, particularly those in emerging markets, Microsoft recently stopped charging hardware makers to incorporate Windows into smartphones and small tablets.

????It’s a big gamble for Microsoft because it sacrifices Windows licensing revenue. But the company is hoping it will pay off by giving the operating system more traction and thereby entice more developers to create apps for those devices. Currently, relatively few developers bother because most people use phones with iOS or Android.

????Microsoft’s mobile market share is anemic at best. Windows phones accounted for just 3% of global smartphone shipments at the end of last year, compared to 78% for Android and 18% for Apple, according to data from IDC, a market research firm.

????Dawson said Microsoft must completely rethink its Windows strategy, rather than just make minor adjustments. The company should give away the operating system for all devices, not just smartphones, he said. To generate revenue, it should sell add-on services. His suggestion mirrors the rest of the market: Apple’s Mac computers come with a free operating system as does Google’s Chromebook laptops. Waiting just makes things tougher in the long run, he said.

????“The big question is, how can they take their price down to zero or close to zero?” Dawson asked.

????In addition to signing on more mobile partners, Microsoft is hoping to ramp up its own mobile device sales. In a sign of its commitment, it paid $7.5 billion earlier this year for the devices and services business of Nokia, the Finnish mobile phone maker.

????Analysts said Microsoft should focus on making cheaper phones and leave the market for more expensive devices to others. Though technology fans don’t generally praise cheap phones, they are the company’s only hope to gain some needed market share, analysts said.

????Dawson described Microsoft’s parallel push into selling tablets as largely a lost cause. It introduced the Surface in 2012 with a splash. But Surface had less than 1% market share last year—far behind Apple and Android—and is expected to reach just 2% this year, predicts IDC.

????“The objective seems to have failed,” Dawson said.

????Rubin said that Nadella should scale back Microsoft’s consumer products to focus more on enterprise customers. Microsoft already has a huge base of businesses that buy its servers and rely on its data centers. It was a strategy followed by Dell, the one-time consumer computer-maker that later shifted focus to corporate customers. Meanwhile, Hewlett-Packard HP -2.33% is making more bets on the enterprise in the face of a tough consumer market.

????It’s one reason Nadella called Microsoft a “productivity and platform” company rather than a “devices and services” company during his Fortune Brainstorm Tech appearance. (The latter term was coined by his predecessor, Steve Ballmer.) Productivity, at least, implies work and other chores, although Nadella’s definition is so broad—automatically translating a recipe by taking a photo of the page, for example—that it could mean virtually anything.

????“The focus on productivity helps differentiate Microsoft from Google and Apple, which have aimed their devices and services as consumers,” Rubin said. “Microsoft is betting that professionals will lean toward the company that puts their goals ahead of advertisers—as Google does—with a strength in managed IT that Apple still doesn’t have.”

????Nadella is expected to give more details about his reorganization plan on July 22, when Microsoft reports its quarterly earnings. Casting a shadow over the proceedings: the company’s long history of reorganizations, which have, despite optimism from senior executives, almost always failed to revitalize the company.