Ah, the Amazon model! Microsoft seems to be exploring a new business model for Windows, one in which it launches affordable, low-cost Windows 11 PCs powered by advertising and subscriptions.
Hints of these have been unearthed in a job listing that the company has put together.
As you may be aware, Redmond posted another titanic quarter, pulling sky-high revenue and profits across all its businesses. However, as is usually the case, some areas did much better than others. Windows OEM is one such segment that has witnessed massive declines due to market conditions.
To combat them, Microsoft wants to dip its toes into a new way to subsidize and sell hardware, something that Amazon has pioneered with its device lineup.
Kindle tablets, for instance, are available in both regular and ad-supported varieties, with the latter obviously being sold for a few less coins.
Something similar seems to be at play with Microsoft, as it appears to be planning to expand its Windows strategy while exploring new business opportunities through a mix of software and low-cost machines.
This job listing reveals that Microsoft wants to build low-cost PCs powered through advertising and subscriptions. In other words, buyers will be able to buy these affordable computers but will see more ads within the operating system.
As put:
“The team will partner with Product Management and Design to ideate and build new experiences aligned with the mission to drive cloud-first experiences into Windows, create prototypes to validate early thinking, and use on-going customer data and research to validate our ideas.”
That’s one way to do it, that’s for sure!
If Microsoft goes down this route, it will have opened up a new revenue stream for itself alongside subscriptions, which the company is big on these days.
Things, obliviously, are at their very beginning here.
Microsoft is simply exploring this avenue, and whether the company decides to go deeper remains to be seen. The same goes for whether this will turn out to be a solo undertaking by Redmond or it will get OEM hardware partners like ASUS, Dell, and HP on board.
But definitely expect to hear more on this, if there is movement.
