Currently thinking about Microsoft, the first thing that comes to mind is Windows. However, analysts predict that by the year 2021 Windows could stop being the main business of Microsoft to make way for a new leading solution: Microsoft Azure.
This data may allow us to realize the magnitude that the cloud will have in the near future: in about two years Windows could stop being the main business of Microsoft to make way for Azure, the platform and services in the cloud of the technological titan.
This is predicted by the analysts of KeyBanc Capital, Brent Bracelin and Clarke Jeffries, revealing that in 2021 Microsoft Azure could generate more benefits than Windows.
The momentum of the cloud business at Microsoft was driven by the arrival of current CEO Satya Nadella, while increasing their support for open source technologies such as Linux.
To date, the company has not revealed how much revenue the powerful business line generates, but it has provided growth data: in the first four months of fiscal year 2019, Azure’s revenues increased 76%.
We know that during fiscal year 2018 Windows generated profits of 19.5 billion dollars – 17.7% of the company’s revenues. Faced with this, analysts believe that Azure generated 7.1 billion in profits – 6.4% of the total.
Following the predictions of KeyBanc, they expect that after the end of the 2019 fiscal year the revenues from Azure will have reached 12.2 billion, equivalent to 9.7% of total revenues. As the proportion increases for services in the cloud increases, in the case of Windows decreases: in fiscal year 2019 they expect it to grow by 2% reaching revenues of 20.1 billion dollars, being 16% of the total.
In 2020 the trend of 2019 will be repeated: a rapid growth for Azure and a more moderate increase for Windows, which will bring both services closer in terms of expected benefits (18.5 billion dollars and 20.1 billion dollars respectively.
The change will come in fiscal year 2021, when they estimate that Azure generates 26.4 billion dollars, compared to 2, 3 billion dollars of Windows. This would imply that Microsoft’s cloud solutions represented 16.6% of the company’s profits, compared to 12.8% for Windows.
Windows will continue to be a key player not only in Microsoft’s revenues, but in the computer industry as a whole. However, Azure is positioned as a powerful opportunity for the Redmond Company.
