With a market capitalization of more than $225 billion, a 92% share of the PC market and a seven-year-old gaming console that just sold more than 750,000 units in one week, Microsoft (MSFT) isn’t exactly in dire straits. The company isn’t the dominant behemoth it once was either, though, but that is set to change in 2013. Andreas Pouros, chief operating officer at marketing agency Greenlight, penned a piece on Econsultancy on Wednesday outlining the various reasons that Microsoft is ready to become “relevant” once again next year.
“[Microsoft] will begin to use its dominant position on the desktop and in gaming to build an exciting ecosystem that will make Microsoft a compelling choice for consumers,” Pouros wrote, noting a number of reasons for his predicted turnaround. Among them are a 140% increase of devices shipped with a mobile Microsoft OS last quarter, the company’s strong position in two-way communications thanks to Skype, the iPad’s declining market share and Microsoft’s continued strength in gaming.
“For me, taken in aggregate, these trends suggest that Microsoft has been stealthy like a ninja, making significant inroads into its competitors businesses whilst the world’s gaze has been focussed on Apple (AAPL), Facebook (FB) and Google (GOOG) over the last 12 months,” Pouros wrote.
The executive concludes that Microsoft will “begin to use its dominant position on the desktop and in gaming to build an exciting ecosystem that will make Microsoft a compelling choice for consumers.” He notes that the biggest hole in Microsoft’s portfolio is a Netflix (NFLX)-like offering and speculates that Microsoft will acquire Netflix sometime next year as a result.
