Microsoft Just Wants to Be Loved
This year, Apple made Microsoft look prescient. During its annual product launch-apalooza in September, Apple introduced a larger iPad aimed at business users, one that looked so much like Microsoft’s Surface Pro that the online peanut gallery deemed the company a copycat. A few years ago, even if Microsoft had been first on something like that, Apple could well have gotten the credit for the idea. “It’s gotten so much better,” says Microsoft Chief Marketing Officer Chris Capossela. “The company has so much more momentum.”
Capossela is quick to add that Microsoft needs to do more to excite people. “Clearly relevance for consumers” remains a challenge, he says, and next year, Satya Nadella’s third as chief executive officer, will show whether the company can get people to love its products, instead of relying on inertia.