Microsoft was founded by Bill Gates in 1975 and is based in Redmond, USA. Microsoft now has 112 offices worldwide and had sales of $73.72 billion in 2012, while investing $9.8 billion in research. Steve Ballmer has been CEO of Microsoft since January 2000. The company is the world’s leading manufacturer of standard software, services and solutions for people and companies of all industries and sizes. According to the research and consulting institute “Great Place to Work”, the German headquarters of Microsoft in Munich with more than 1000 employees acts as the best IT employer in large companies.
In 2005, Microsoft was the second-best global brand, but it has since fallen to fifth and continues to experience a 2% decline. Although the US group has an almost monopoly on operating systems, it is finding it difficult to compete with competitors such as Google. The company’s success can be attributed to its in-house Windows operating system. It is installed on more than 90 % of the world’s computers and is used by over a billion people.
Business Areas
- The “Windows & Windows Live Division” includes the development and marketing of operating systems, online services, software and PC hardware.
- The “Server & Tools” area includes Windows Server , Microsoft SQL Server and products such as Visual Studio and Silverlight. Developer tools, training and certifications also fall into this category.
- The “Online Services Division” develops online marketing solutions. Examples are Bing, MSN, adCenter and Advertiser Tools.
- The “Microsoft Business Division”, MBD for short, develops and markets software and services such as Microsoft Office to increase personal, team and organizational productivity.
- Another area is the Entertainment & Device Division, which develops and markets products and services to connect and entertain users. The focus here is on the Xbox 360 entertainment platform. This includes the Xbox console, the compatible Kinect control system, video games, the Xbox Live platform and all Xbox 360 accessories. Furthermore, the EDD includes the Windows Phone and the Mediaroom.
Microsoft’s Bing and SEO
Google is still the undisputed market leader worldwide in the field of search engines. In Germany alone, 88.4% of Internet users use the Google search engine (as of June 2012). For this reason, many search engine optimizers align their strategies exclusively with Google. Even if Microsoft’s search engine Bing is growing in terms of features and extensions and is developing noticeably, Bing only has a 2.5% market share in Germany, with a growth rate of plus 0.2%. Google, on the other hand, has a market share of 90.3% with growth of 0.1% (as of March 2013).