5, 4, 3, 2,… Microsoft One

While Redmond was sleeping, Microsoft New Zealand was unveiling, launching the Surface 2 and Surface Pro 2 across the country as the clock struck midnight.

By being the first to introduce the extended Surface family, the Kiwi branch of the software giant reiterated the company's bold move into hardware and devices.

"Hardware and devices is definitely our future", said Fraser Scott, chief of Marketing at Microsoft New Zealand.

Adopting Steve Ballmer's "One Microsoft" philosophy, the launch shows a sharpening of Microsoft's strategy.

“This company has always had a big vision — to help people realize their full potential,” Ballmer told his army of staff a few months ago.

“In the earliest days, it was by putting a PC on every desk and in every home. We’ve come farther than we could have imagined."

After launching devices such as Windows 8, Xbox One and Surface during the past year, Ballmer's focus at Microsoft is on “creating a family of devices and services for individuals and businesses that empower people around the globe at home, at work and on the go, for the activities they value most.”

“We will do this by leveraging our strengths,” he claimed. “We have powered devices for many years through Windows PCs and Xbox.

“Improving our performance has three big dimensions.

“Focusing the whole company on a single strategy, improving our capability in all disciplines and engineering/technology areas, and working together with more collaboration and agility around our common goals.

“We are rallying behind a single strategy as one company — not a collection of divisional strategies.

“We will reshape how we interact with our customers, developers and key innovation partners, delivering a more coherent message and family of product offerings.”

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