What Does Microsoft Need to Do in 2013?

Microsoft made some big strides in 2012 in various areas of technology. It made a big change to the Windows operating system, saw its first tablet enter the market, and made improvements to the Windows Phone as it sought to gain more market share of the cell phone industry. However, for all of the innovations and changes Microsoft made, it struggled to prove that it is a challenger with Apple and Google. Here is what the company needs to do to capitalize on what it began and move it to the forefront of the technology giants.

Windows 8

People’s opinions of Windows 8 is either they love it or they hate it. One of the things Microsoft needs to do is to add more apps.  It needs to gain the attention of service and content providers and provide interesting new apps, even at their cost.

Surface

Microsoft may have to revisit the price of the Surface RT.  Sales have been reported to be slow so far and much of that may be because it is competing head to head with the iPad at the same point.  Why would you try something new for the same price as something you already know?  A cheaper price could boost sales and allow more people to test drive the new tablet.

Cloud

Microsoft has added new features to Windows Azure but it still needs to make improvements.  One thing that needs to be done is reduce the hassles that come with migrating.  It needs to add even more features to the platform for it to compete with Amazon and other big names.

Xbox

The Xbox is one area that Microsoft has not struggled with and it needs to use this with other areas. It added new games and the hands-free motion controller was a big hit.  Now, it just needs to figure out how to incorporate that popularity into its other tools.

[Image via officialandreascy]