Next week, Microsoft Corporation will lay off a significant number of employees in its Xbox division as part of a larger restructuring effort.
Deeper issues within the computer giant’s video game operations are indicated by the decision, which is the fourth significant round of layoffs to hit the gaming arm in as many months.
An international media agency broke the story first, citing internal sources that said managers throughout the Xbox division were told to anticipate large layoffs.
After Microsoft’s $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard Inc. in 2023, the Xbox division, which is in charge of the company’s game consoles, first-party studios, and other entertainment platforms, has been under more pressure to increase profitability.
Layoff Has Become a Regular Feature of Microsoft
This most recent development follows earlier claims that Microsoft plans to cut thousands of jobs in customer-facing and sales professions by July 2025. The corporation had already laid off about 6,000 employees in May, and in the last two months alone, the number of job losses across all divisions has reached almost 7,000.
One of Microsoft’s most affected divisions has been the Xbox team. The corporation let go of 1,900 workers at Xbox and the freshly acquired Activision Blizzard in January 2024. Microsoft later let off 650 more employees from its gaming division in September 2024.
The division’s long-term capabilities were severely harmed by the closure of other Xbox subsidiaries as a result of earlier layoff waves. Although Microsoft has not issued an official comment, the reorganisation seems to be in line with a larger change in company policy that emphasises outsourcing and leaner teams.
Microsoft said in April 2025 that it would reduce its in-house sales teams by depending increasingly on outside companies to offer software solutions to small and midsized organisations.
The entire tech sector is still going through a difficult period. With weaker growth projections and increased demands for profitability, even the most profitable companies in the world are reassessing their cost structures.
Microsoft is no exception, with its extensive portfolio that includes consumer games, cloud infrastructure, and enterprise applications.
Microsoft’s Employees in a Panic Mode
Microsoft’s long-term gaming strategy is called into question by the frequent waves of layoffs inside the Xbox division, which was originally thought to be a crucial pillar for customer involvement and upcoming metaverse efforts.
Although the Activision Blizzard purchase was historic, analysts point out that the anticipated growth and synergy from the transaction have not yet materialised into observable financial gains.
This might have led Microsoft’s executives to adopt a more stringent approach to cost management in the gaming industry. Employee worries are also anticipated to grow as a result of the impending cuts. Internal morale is said to be stressed as a result of multiple waves of layoffs in a very short amount of time, particularly within development and creative teams.
As restructuring talks continue, many Xbox ecosystem personnel are still unclear about their future positions, according to Bloomberg. Broadly speaking, Microsoft’s drastic layoffs are part of a larger trend among large tech firms looking to simplify operations after the epidemic, as the hiring boom of 2020–2022 is now being replaced with efficiency and financial restraint.
After Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer, Satya Nadella is the third person to ever become the CEO of Microsoft. Satya Nadella has achieved great heights of success in his career, and being the CEO of Microsoft has taken him to the next level of achievement. He has briefly described his life journey throughout the book ‘Hit Refresh’, which he authored.
He became the CEO of Microsoft in 2014 after Steve Ballmer. Satya Nadella is married to Anupama and together they have three children; one son and two daughters. Satya Nadella’s residence is in Clyde Hill and Bellevue, Washington.
Before this enormous promotion, he worked as the executive vice president of Microsoft’s cloud and enterprise area. All over, he managed the responsibility of Microsoft’s computing platform.
Ever since 2014, Satya Nadella has worked remarkably well and took Microsoft to some great advancement and also brought potential companies and technology to work with. Microsoft received many generous and successful acquisitions. The first-ever major deal cracked by Satya Nadella as the CEO was of Mojang (a Swedish game company) which was worth $2.5 billion.
In this article, we will discuss some of the unknown and interesting facts about Satya Nadella that you must know. Let’s get started!
Satya Nadella served 23-years in Microsoft before becoming the CEO
Most people don’t know this, but Satya Nadella has served 23 years at Microsoft before becoming the CEO. During these 23 years, he worked in various executive-level roles such as Microsoft’s Server and Tool division management. In this position, he gave rise to many billions of revenue, especially in the Cloud and Enterprise group.
Satya Nadella married his childhood sweetheart Anupama, who is the daughter of his father’s friend.
Anupama and Satya had also been College mates although Anupama was a year junior at Manipal, where she pursued B. Arch at the Faculty of Architecture. The couple got married in 1992, the same year when Satya Nadella joined Microsoft. They have two daughters and a son.
Satya Nadella Transformed Windows Live Search into Bing
The most incredible work by Satya Nadella when he transformed the Windows Live Search into Bing. This serves as the backbone to a fancy range of Microsoft Services internationally.
Moreover, Satya Nadella is also credited for directing the team which created Office 365, SkyDrive, Xbox Live and many other Microsoft Cloud applications.
Satya Nadella has a Legendary Belief for Computing
Satya Nadella always believed that Computing extended far beyond the Computer. He has always stood by this and developed many brilliant programs. In fact, when he became the CEO of Microsoft, he addressed the employees with the first email as “This is a software-powered world.”
Bill Gates Mentored Satya Nadella
Bill Gates with Satya Nadella
This is known by very few that when Satya Nadella took over the job of CEO of Microsoft in 2014, Bill Gates re-joined the company to guide and mentor Nadella personally. He joined as the personal mentor of Satya Nadella.
Satya Nadella Loves Poetry
Satya Nadella is fond of poetry. In fact, his official Microsoft’s profile has mentioned poetry as one of Nadella’s hobbies. Satya Nadella is passionate about Indian and American poetry. He expresses them as code for long sentences with great emotions. He deeply compares the verses to coding.
Satya Nadella is a great inspiration for the students at the school where he completed his schooling, Alma mater. Times of India noted that the students follow him deeply and get really inspired.
Satya Nadella came in the Spark Program at the Hyderabad Public School (first chosen for this program). In this program, the team utilised Microsoft materials and software to help and guide the young Indian students to kickstart their careers in tech.
Satya Nadella met with many government officials for the purpose of improving IT education in schools all over India.
Satya Nadella is a massive cricket fan
Satya Nadella is a massive Cricket fan
Satya Nadella is a massive cricket fan and also said, it inspires him in the way he does the business. Cricket has made a great impact on Nadella’s life. He told this in an interview with Hyderabad’s Deccan Chronicle. He mentioned that he used to play Cricket in his school- Hyderabad Public School. This taught him great values but most of all, how to manage a team and leadership. This helped him a lot in his career.
Satya Nadella is the most Powerful Indian-born tech Executive
Satya Nadella is known to be one of the most powerful Indian-born businessmen in the world. According to a report by Reuters, when Satya Nadella became the CEO of Microsoft in 2014, he became famous as the most influential and powerful Indian tech executive in the world.
Furthermore, he joined PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi among the Indians by becoming the most prominent and widely famous in the world and reaching the top American cooperation companies.
Satya Nadella has worked with great devotion towards Microsoft. He is taking the company to a next level of advancements and development. In Nadella’s book, he mentioned how he saw a different level of upgradation in Microsoft through the HoloLens device.
He said that it holds many potential realty holdings. And so artificial intelligence and quantum computing are also developing brilliantly. The Microsoft team is working with excellent speed and plan to prepare for the more uprising future of Microsoft.
Satya Nadella is the perfect personality for the CEO of Microsoft and no doubt in the upcoming years, we will see more growth and advancement in Microsoft.
FAQ
What is the monthly salary of Satya Nadella?
The monthly income of Satya Nadella is $3 Million.
What is Satya Nadella leadership style?
Satya Nadella believes in the power of positive leadership and uses terms such as “growth mindset” and “empathy” that are reinforced by action.
What is Satya Nadella net worth?
The estimated Net Worth of Satya Nadella is at least $658 Million dollars as of 2021.
One of the most well-known rivalry in the technological industry is between Apple Inc and Microsoft Corporation. They are two of the largest companies in the world as both Apple and Microsoft have touched market capitalization value of $1.5 trillion in 2020. Both the companies have revolutionized the technological industry by providing us with two very different software applications and gadgets such as Mac and PC.
They are two of the most established companies when it comes to the production of computers. Both Apple and Microsoft are competitors even in different sectors of the industry like hardware devices like smartphone and PCs, advertising, making software’s, operating systems, etc. Apple main aim is to produce gadgets like iPhone, Mac, Apple watch , etc, while Microsoft focuses on making software applications for different devices and giving license for their software services.
Which is why both the companies have different approaches to marketing strategies. Let’s put a light on some of the key points from the marketing strategies of both companies and check how you can implement them in your business.
Apple Inc is one of the most well known American corporation which is popular for creating unique designs and selling electronics, computer software and online services. The headquarters of people Inc is situated in Cupertino, California. The company is credited for designing products such as Macintosh range of computers, iPad, iPhone, iPod, Mac, Apple watch, etc. The company is also know to make software such as iLife, the safari web browser, iOS and iTunes among others. Apple now operates in over 350 stores around the world and offers both software and hardware.
The success story of Apple
The success of Apple Inc. is solely because of the contributions made by the cofounder and entrepreneur, Steve Jobs who created good looking, easy to use products and the ability to create innovative products that consumer’s desire. The company was created during the unstable economic situation of the 1970’s. The company introduced Macintosh in 1984 after which it also got its widespread recognition because of its marketing and advertisements for its products. In 90’s after jobs resignation, apple lost a huge market share to its lower priced competitors Microsoft and Intel.
In 2000, when jobs returned and became the CEO, Apple gained it prominence after the launch of iMac and the Think different campaigns. In August 2011, Jobs resigned as CEO due to health issues, which led to Tim Cook becoming the new CEO. And the rest is history. Apple’s annual revenue for 2020 was $274.5 billion, making Apple Inc the world’s most valuable company. As of January 2021, Apple has achieved the title of becoming the world’s largest PC vendor and also becoming the world’s fourth largest manufacturers of smartphones. Apple is now also the world’s largest music retailer with iTunes.
Microsoft Corporation is an US based multinational technology company which is headquartered in Redmond, Washington. The company is known for manufacturing, licensing and selling software’s, consumer electronics, PCs, etc. Some of its well-recognized and popular contributions to the tech industry is Microsoft office suite, internet explorer, Xbox video game consoles and a variety of PCs. Microsoft is also one of the top five tech companies in the US that includes Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon and Microsoft. In 2020 Microsoft became the 21st company in the Fortune 500 list.
The success story of Microsoft
The company was founded by Bill Gates in 1975 . The company was made from contributions of the ideas of two individuals Bill Gates and Paul Allen, as they were interested in computers and programming. The company rose to prominence in 80s with developments like Altair 8800, MS-DOS and the most popular Microsoft windows. Bill gates was then replaced by Steve Ballmer as the CEO in 2000. In the 90s the company made major acquisitions of Skype for $8.5 billion in 2011 and LinkedIn for $26.2 Billion in 2016.
Microsoft provides a vast range of products and service that are aimed at satisfying the customers on what they want in the software industry. In addition to this, the company has extended its operations in other sectors in order to enhance its competitive advantage. The company now offers a wide range of products, software’s and servers for its user’s desktops, laptops, tabs, gadgets and servers including internet search with Bing, cloud computing with Azure, mixed reality with Hololens and software development with visual studio.
The Target Audience of Apple and Microsoft
Apple Inc. has both software and hardware products and services, for software it has iCloud, iLife, iMessage, iMovie, iTunes, etc and for hardware it has iPhone, Macbook, iMac, Apple watch, iPad, etc. Which is why the apple has a vast array of target audience as it keeps expanding its market with every new product. Apple already has 1.5 billion users who fall under the age bracket of 22 to 55 years old. The male to female user ratio is 60.8% to 39.2% showing that it is expanding in the male market.
Apple also targets people with medium to high income individuals who live in metropolitan cities and are loyal to the brand. The occupation group of Apple users are considered to be students and young professionals to even managers and executives. Microsoft also has both software and hardware products and services. Everyone from the middle class house at least owns one Microsoft hardware or software that is because the target audience of Microsoft are people who don’t necessarily have a high income.
Microsoft’s target audience age group range from 16 and older and from both urban and rural areas around the world. They also target young crowds that are usually students, employees and professionals and are loyal to the brand. Microsoft also uses the approach of STP which is Market Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning in order to bring about communications in marketing as it enables the company to make propositions their priority.
Apple’s marketing mix shows us how the company matches with its business activities to the conditions in the worldwide market for information technology, consumer’s electronics and online services. While Microsoft’s is known to be marketing mix that shows how rapid invention and innovation can be combined with effective approaches to maintain a strong share of the market. Here are the 4Ps (Products, Place, Promotion, Price) of both the companies.
The marketing mix of Apple
Product mix
Apples products mostly comprise of mostly of both hardware and software which involve information technology. Apple although has more hardware products and some of the well-known products are Mac products line, iPhone line, iPad line, iPod line Apple watches, Apple TV, while it software products are software of devices, accessories, cloud services, digital content, etc.
Microsoft on the other hand started out as a software developer and still continues to give it its first preferences. However this company has grown to include an variety of products and services. Some of its products are providing different software to various devices, Apps, Xbox Video game consoles and entertainment.
Placement mix analyses the selection of appropriate places or venues that are used by the company to distribute its products. Apple Inc. placement involves apple owned locations and other parties that the company authorizes to distribute its products. Most of Apples distribution happens from Apple store locations, Company owned website and online stores for desktop and authorized sellers and lastly the telecommunication companies.
Microsoft tries to maximize its reach in the sectors of both computer hardware and software market. The company does its distribution on their official website, authorized sellers and Microsoft stores.
The marketing mix of Microsoft
Price mix
Apple uses two pricing strategy which are Freemium pricing strategy and premium pricing strategy. Apple uses premium pricing strategy to set high prices for its products which is why apple products are more expensive then android products, with this it maximizes profit margins.
In the freemium pricing case apple products are free but customers have to pay to access better features, for example the company offers free 5 GB iCloud storage but if the user wants more they can by purchasing. However Microsoft applies suitable pricing approaches like Market-oriented pricing strategy, Freemium pricing strategy similar to apple’s and Buy only what you use price strategy.
Promotional mix
Apple promotes its products in various ways to include different channels and parties. Apple also uses word of mouth, marketing campaigns and beautifully planned ad video that reaches out to their target audience. Microsoft aims on creating effective communication strategies and tactics which can be used to attract target audience. Both Apple and Microsoft uses tactics such as advertising, sales promotion, direct marketing, personal selling and public relations to promote their products.
Apple is known to be the best companies when it comes to branding and tech marketing. They don’t just market their products they try to market a brand identity. One of its main market strategies is to keep the products and marketing simple because they don’t want to overwhelm their prospective customers with too many choices. Apple lets its products speak for themselves with their simplistic design and easy to understand descriptions and simple visuals.
One of Apple’s best marketing strategies is hyping its products and making a creative campaign. The other reasons are that they understand their target audience and try to reach out to them in the language they will understand which is done by simplifying the marketing process. One of the points of Apple’s tech marketing is that they know how to speak directly to their consumer. They also create brilliant video ads and billboards that showcases human needs and speaks to the customer’s human needs.
Microsoft on the other hand depends completely on showcasing its product effectiveness and usability. Microsoft spends a lot as it depends on B2B marketing that directly sells its products to the customers. Microsoft has also updated its marketing strategy which is now based upon customer feedback and market changes. In this day and age, Microsoft has somehow managed to develop not only its marketing but also its products in order to match the rapid rate of change in today’s market.
Microsoft’s marketing strategy is to drive its enterprises business by creating cloud based solutions that will stick with its consumers. Microsoft uses a mix of demographic and behavior segmentation strategies to segments the market into different group with similar characteristics. Segmenting based on demographics is important for products like Operating systems and Office products which are applicable to everyone.
Apple has several competitive advantages over its competitors one of which is that it produces superior technological products with good OS and technology like iPhone, Macbook and iWatch making it a leader in the market space. Apple has also repeatedly taken the top spot for its brand equity and also has loyal customers. Apple has increased its revenue over the past years and also has high margins.
One of the major competitive advantages of Apple is the amount it spends on R&D, always thinking about the future of the company. Microsoft offers both software and hardware products and services, from Microsoft tablet to Xbox console games to even software. So one of the main competitive advantage that Microsoft has over its competitors is the strategy of making acquisitions. Microsoft has so far acquired companies like Hotmail, Skype and even Nokia.
Microsoft is a main competitor to apple because its operating system is installable on any PC or laptop and there is no hardware binding on the operating system which is a problem noticeable in Apple gadgets. It also has a vast product line and has worked upon TCO which is total cost of ownership so as to make the software easily and economically available to the customers.
Frequently Asked Questions – FAQs
What are some of the Apple’s products?
Apple products mostly comprise of mostly of both hardware and software which are Mac products line, iPhone line, iPad line, iPod line Apple watches, Apple TV, while it software products are software of devices, accessories, cloud services, digital content, etc.
What are some of Microsoft products?
Microsoft also has software and hardware products and usually provides different software to various devices, Apps, Xbox Video game consoles and entertainment.
What is Apple’s marketing strategy?
Apple marking strategy involves keeping its products and ads simple, knowing their target audience and reaching out to them, getting good feedback, a well appreciated customer experience.
What is Microsoft’s marketing strategy?
Microsoft marketing strategy focuses on showcasing its product effectiveness and usability and implementing customer feedback to create user-friendly products at a reasonable price.
The global gaming market was valued at $ 151.55 billion in 2019 . This industry is expected to reach a value of $ 256.97 billion by 2025. It is expected to register a CAGR of 9.17% over the period (2020 – 2025). Gamer’s experience is what all the emerging comapnies are focusing at. Every company is eager to write codes for mobile phones, play station, xbox. All this will be provided to the users incorporated in a single cloud storage.
Role of Cloud Storage and Gaming
The market is driven by the emergence of cloud gaming. The idea of cloud gaming has been formed a reality with the advances in technology. The server is the place where all the games are stored , in cloud gaming. All the computation work is done here. The work includes game scene rendering, game logic processing video encoding, and video streaming. Companies like Onlive, G-Cluster, StreamMyGame, Gaikai, and T5-Labs are offering cloud gaming services that are commercial. This new sector seems to be a threat to the idea of traditional
This idea of cloud computing has prompted video game majors. Companies such as Sega, Ubisoft, Epic Games, Atari, Warner Bros, Disney Interactive studio to partnerships with Onlive. This will be done to distribute their games.
Startups in Gaming and Industry boost
The market growth is being propelled by new startups.This sector is seeing considerable activity from new comers.
Share of Hardware devices used for playing games
The outbreak of COVID-19 has given the gaming industry a boost.A survey in March 2020 shows that the video gamers in the United States have reported playing 45% more time than usual playing games.The gamers have reported playing more than usual every week amidst the lockdown. Esports is a gaming company that manages to make more than a billion dollars a year. Twitch’s first time download has seen a rise to the epidemic in March has risen to 14% in the U.S.A and a staggering 41% in Italy.
Mobile gaming has seen the biggest increase due to the Covid-19 measures all around the globe. Mobile games are expected to generate revenues of $77.2 billion in 2020.The industry will grow +13.3% this year. Reasons for choosing phone over PC:
Mobile gaming has the lowest need to entry: A smartphone is owned by more than two – fifths of the global population. Playing on mobile phone gives the added benefit of having free games.
Mobile gaming provide an option to PC cafes: The covid-19 situation has seen the closure of many gaming cafes. This forced gamers to move to phones on a temporary basis.
The mobile game developement is a lot easier than PC one : The mobile gaming had no major effects due to this .
The number of players on mobile phone will rise to 2.6 Billion in 2020. This would contain 38% who would pay . The growth in console marketing has slowed down. It has gone down from what it was in 2018. The expectations for next – gen consoles had its effect on sales of consoles in 2019. Due to this a lot of companies had to adjust their annual sales and savings.
Gaming scene in India
Indian mobile marketing has grown over the past few months. Growth of gaming has forced the manufacturers to make a lot of changes in the normal smartphones. A whole new type of Revolution. Not only the mobile industry but also the gaming industry is going through a revolution. The industry is growing from investments from players like Tencent , Nazara and Alibaba. The market value of Indian Gaming industry was around 62 Billion INR in 2019. This is expected to rise to 250 Billion INR till 2024. This growth indicates a growth in the number of jobs in this sector. By 2022 the strength of employees is expected to become 40 thousand.
The value of the gaming market in India was around 62 billion Indian rupees in 2019. This is estimated to go up to over 250 billion rupees by 2024. The industry is expected to generate 40 thousand new job opportunities by 2022. According to a survey a majority of Indians play a type of game daily. It showed that shooter and sports games were popular among men. The women preferred adventure and strategy games. Gaming in India has seen its peaks more in Mobile Gaming. With the availability of cheap and almost free internet mobile has become he best option. The industry is expected to grow a lot in the upcoming years.
Console Gaming In India
The market value of console Gaming in India is expected to reach about 291 million USD by 2022. The console gaming market is expected to be about 36.3 percent by 2022. The industry has seen a growth of 35.5 percent since 2016.
“PS4 sales have doubled in Q1 FY20 (April-June) as compared to Q4 FY19 (January-March). There has been an outstanding 200%+ growth in peripheral sales as well, which indicates an attitudinal shift, making gaming a more inclusive family entertainment option in India. May and June 2020 have witnessed the highest ever sales,” said Prosenjit Ghosh, Head of PlayStation Business, Sony India.
