14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft goes on with its transformation plan to fully embrace devices and services, but it still remains the number one software company in the world, according to a new research courtesy of Gartner.
The Redmond-based giant managed to increase its worldwide software revenues from $52 billion (€37 billion) in 2012 to $65.7 billion (€47.6 billion) last year, thus posting a boost of 6 percent. Oracle, which is currently the second company in the top, posted worldwide revenues of $29.6 billion (€21.4 billion), managing to overtake IBM and its $29.1 billion (€21 billion) revenue.
Gartner says that worldwide software revenue totaled $407.3 billion (€295.2 billion) in 2013, a 4.8 percent increase from 2012 revenue of $388.5 billion (€281.6 billion), partially thanks to Microsoft, but also following a surprising 33.3 percent posted by Salesforce.com.
“The software market has been changing shape over the past five years, and cloud is driving the bulk of this change as software vendors acquire and provide applications and infrastructure technology to support the cloud and the Internet of Things (IoT) movement,” said Joanne Correia, research vice president at Gartner. “A clear indicator of this is that for the first time we have a pure cloud vendor in the top 10.”
Microsoft obviously still wants to increase the focus on non-software products, including new devices such as tablets, so the company has promised to increase the lineup of its Surface models with even more versions in the coming months.
The company has recently announced the Surface 2 with LTE connectivity, but more SKUs could launch sometime this year or in 2015, including a smaller unit to compete with iPad mini and Nexus 7.
The Surface Mini might be equipped with an 8-inch screen and powered by Windows RT 8.1 with a number of tweaks that would ensure advanced performance and longer battery life. Keeping the price as low as possible is also a priority, so word is that Microsoft could sell the tablet for approximately $250 (€180).
At the same time, Microsoft is also trying to put the focus on cloud services and the Office productivity suite, with CEO Satya Nadella recently unveiling the new Office for iPad during an event in San Francisco. Monetizing Office is a priority for Microsoft right now, so a Windows 8 version with full touch support is also expected sometime this year, together with an Android port similar to the one available on iOS.