Does Microsoft have a future?

Revenue is up this year at Microsoft, but the software giant has been forced to confront threats from cloud computing and tablets. So should you invest? Phil Oakley investigates.

What is Microsoft?

Microsoft is synonymous with the personal computer (PC), its Windows PC operating system and its Office software suite. On the web, the company's presence includes the Internet Explorer browser, search engine Bing and the MSN portal. It also has a dominant position in the business server market (via Windows Server and Microsoft SQL) and offers the Xbox 360 console for gaming purposes.

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Phil spent 13 years as an investment analyst for both stockbroking and fund management companies.

 

After graduating with a MSc in International Banking, Economics & Finance from Liverpool Business School in 1996, Phil went to work for BWD Rensburg, a Liverpool based investment manager. In 2001, he joined ABN AMRO as a transport analyst. After a brief spell as a food retail analyst, he spent five years with ABN's very successful UK Smaller Companies team where he covered engineering, transport and support services stocks.

 

In 2007, Phil joined Halbis Capital Management as a European equities analyst. He began writing for MoneyWeek in 2010.