The international marketing strategy of Microsoft

Microsoft is an American public multinational conglomerate founded by Bill Gates and Paul Allen in 1975 in Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA. At that time, the founders were students and they wanted to sell their first translator software Altair 8800.
Today, the company is headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Its global annual revenue in 2005 was $39.8 billion and it employs over 60,000 people in 139 countries. Since September 2005, Microsoft has organized itself in three core business groups: Microsoft Platform Products & Services Division, Microsoft Business Division and the Microsoft Entertainment and Devices Division. Microsoft develops, manufactures, licenses and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing devices. It also provides online communication services and information services through its MSN portals . Thus, the main products of the company are software even if since the beginning it has had a hardware development branch. Thanks to a near monopoly of the market, Microsoft Windows is the leader in the OS industry.

How have those two students built a global company? What was the expansion strategy of the founders of Microsoft?

In order to understand the international policy of the global brand, we will initially focus on the international facts of the company, and in the second part we will study the industry. In the third part, we will analyze the international strategy of the company and, finally, we will focus on the Marketing Mix of Microsoft.

[...] IV) Analysis of the marketing strategy and the marketing mix developed by Microsoft in the overseas markets. In this part, we will define Microsoft’s marketing strategy in the foreign markets. Microsoft in undoubtedly an international firm and we will see if Microsoft complies with local demands or not. In this fourth part, we will analyze the marketing strategy, thanks to the study of each aspect of its marketing mix. The elements of the marketing mix are the following: - Product: Having the right product for your market - Price: The price chosen according to many aspects such as your target - Promotion: Different ways of promoting your product - Place: It is often referred as the distribution channel As we mentioned previously, Microsoft is an international group with a ‘glocal’ approach of the market. [...]

[...] The strategy of this international company is to global and think local’, especially for its marketing strategy. That is why Microsoft is organized according to a matrix organization. The Business Division is divided by type of products whereas in the Sales Operations, people are divided by regions. Today, some international institutions denounce the monopoly of the software giant. The company doesn’t respect the fundamental principle of the autonomy of the market (free competition, lack of barriers for entering the market, transparency of the information). [...]

[...] It could be interesting to study the launch of the new Microsoft products which reflect the international dimension of this company. II) Industrial Sector of Microsoft In the second part, we will focus on the sector in which Microsoft is operating. What are the main threats in the market? How does the market react to Microsoft’s policies? To begin, we will highlight Microsoft’s competitors in order to demonstrate Porter’s Five Forces model. Then, we will study the consumer behaviour and the legal constraints of the industry. [...]