Is Satya making the fatal mistake of not listening to customers?

“We strive to make computing more personal by putting users at the core of the experience… In support of this, we

are bringing Office, Windows, and devices together for an enhanced and more cohesive customer experience.”

Those are the words of Satya Nadella in Microsoft’s 2020 Annual Report for shareholders, although the italics are mine. Because while Satya has delivered astonishingly good returns for those who have invested in the company, I question whether he’s rewarded its loyal customers with a cohesive experience.

I understand that Microsoft is in the business of making profit rather than friends, but let’s be clear: the most obvious experience that users are “at the core of” involves them giving Microsoft more money.

If Microsoft really values its users, who are currently being lured way from the Windows ecosystem by Apple and Google in their droves, it’s a good idea to give them what they want. For be in no doubt, Satya, that the people have spoken and they have stated the blinking obvious: they want simplicity, they want control over updates, and they want basic versions of Word and Excel that don’t cost them £60 per year.

We found this out through the very simple method of asking. For our readers’ poll this month, on p25, we provided 11 different choices for what Windows 11 might deliver. The top three, by a distance, were the ones listed above.If we asked a less tech-savvy audience, those votes would surely only increase.

It makes you wonder how much time Mr Nadella and his echo chamber spend talking to those outside of Microsoftland. Real people. Ones who haven’t been given Microsoft stock options and who innocently head into John Lewis or Currys looking for a new laptop, only to end up paying £60 per year for Microsoft 365.

I don’t blame the salespeople. They’re just giving customers what they ask for, and if they tried to point buyers toward s LibreOffice then many customers would return their laptop because it doesn’t do what they want.

No, the power is in Microsoft’s hands. And it’s protecting the ancient golden goose of Office income at the expense of moving everyone onto a new platform, complete with its improved (please, let it be true!) Microsoft Store. Surely a free, bundled version of Word and Excel would give people a far more compelling reason to upgrade their systems than a centralised taskbar and shiny widgets ( see p26)?

What’s that? It doesn’t make business sense? It would scalp Microsoft’s revenue? It doesn’t seem to hurt Apple or Google. And don’t forget that we already have WordPad, so a basic word processor is hardly a new idea. Plus, wouldn’t people be far more likely to upgrade to paid-for versions of Word and Excel if they were already using free editions, as opposed to the current strategy of offering 30-day trial versions of Microsoft 365?

The real blocker is fear and a defensive mindset. Microsoft fears Windows 11 users would cancel their juicy subscriptions and the Office division has huge revenues to protect. But, Satya, listen to your own words: what better way to bring Office, Windows and devices together than to bundle them together?