Former Microsoft CEO Steve Balmer believes that current CEO Satya Nadella's policy to have developers create universal apps for PCs, mobile and Xbox would not work. He instead says that Windows phones should run Android apps.
Ballmer's view is a turnaround from his stand as Microsoft head when he was reluctant to take in other platforms, notes The Verge. But his change of viewpoint is understandable because of the number of high-profile apps leaving Windows Store. The tech website points out that what Microsoft needs now is a credible app strategy for its latest mobile initiative to gain ground.
In November, Microsoft placed on hold Project Astoria which plans to bring Android apps to its Windows 10 Mobile platform. The openness to bringing Android apps to Windows is borne out of Ballmer's belief that only Microsoft, and not Samsung, would be a serious competition to Apple, because of the company's software and hardware capability, reports Apple Insider.
Ballmer also questioned at the Microsoft shareholders' meeting the way the company reported its cloud earnings which was on the run rate and not the revenue. Microsoft only reported 44 percent gross margins on its commercial cloud business. This way of reporting is "bullshit," he says.
"It's a sort of key metric. If they talk about it as a key to the company, they should report it," points out Ballmer, Microsoft's largest shareholder.