Ina Fried

Recent Posts by Ina Fried

Microsoft Aims to Reintroduce Itself to Wall Street

For the past little while now, Steve Ballmer has been calling Microsoft a “devices and services” company.

ballmer_gesture

Asa Mathat/AllThingsD.com

On Thursday, Microsoft will try to explain what that means for a company that most people think of as a software company first and foremost — and the world’s largest software maker, at that.

Microsoft is holding a four-hour analyst meeting in Redmond, starting at 1 pm PT.

The event comes at a critical time for Microsoft, which is in the midst of a massive reorganization and a CEO transition, as well as the pending purchase of Nokia’s device business.

Microsoft isn’t expected to have much of an update on the search to replace Ballmer, but it will likely clarify its shift to a devices and services business. In particular, the company is likely to revisit how it segments its businesses from a financial standpoint.

Expected to speak are Ballmer, CFO Amy Hood and operating chief Kevin Turner, as well as some of the company’s top engineering leaders.

It’s Microsoft’s first financial analyst meeting in two years. Reporters aren’t being allowed into the event, but there will be a Webcast. (Of course, AllThingsD will offer plenty of coverage.)

Latest Video

View all videos »

Search »

Another gadget you don’t really need. Will not work once you get it home. New model out in 4 weeks. Battery life is too short to be of any use.

— From the fact sheet for a fake product entitled Useless Plasticbox 1.2 (an actual empty plastic box) placed in L.A.-area Best Buy stores by an artist called Plastic Jesus