The economic recession has taken its toll in (almost) all corners of the globe, so much so that even Microsoft believes that its growth in Ukraine will slow down a fair bit this year.
While the company brought several important products to market last year, the technology titan has had to make do with uninspiring numbers both for Windows 8 and the Surface tablet. Luckily, Microsoft has diversified its business to such an extent that it can glide through these tough times.
Nevertheless, the slump does hurt the company in important areas.
And according to Dmitry Shymkiv, Microsoft’s Ukrainian general manager, the financial downturn will slow growth in the country. He was quoted by Bloomberg as saying:
“Sales in the corporate sector increased by more than 30 percent in 2012. It is going to be slower this year.”
Microsoft is betting big on hosting services and cloud products, and even in Ukraine, the company expects this area of business to increase by no less than 50 percent.
According to the report above, the company currently has more than 2,000 corporate clients in Ukraine, all of them using Microsoft’s cloud (or cloud-based) services. A solid number — one that sheds light on the direction the company is heading.
