Leaders | Reboot successful

The lessons from Microsoft’s startling comeback

A bold bet on AI could help it overtake Apple as the world’s most valuable firm

Microsoft logo made of speech bubbles
Image: Travis Constantine

“It is kinda like the Nineties are back,crowed Satya Nadella, the boss of Microsoft, at a product launch in New York on September 21st. He was referring to the glory days of the software giant, when its Windows operating system was ubiquitous, profits were soaring and revenues routinely grew by more than 30% a year. For a while Microsoft became the most valuable company in the world. But success bred complacency. By the early 2010s sales growth had slowed and profit margins had shrunk.

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This article appeared in the Leaders section of the print edition under the headline “Reboot successful ”

From the September 30th 2023 edition

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