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Microsoft has seemingly admitted defeat in its ambitious quest to get Windows 10 onto one billion devices by 2018, citing its own decision to scale back on smartphones as a key reason.
In the last year the technology giant has slowed down its smartphone business and now says that this drop has made it more difficult to get the new software on mobile devices such smartphones and tablets.
In a statement, Microsoft said that it “will take longer” to get the number of Windows 10 devices up to a billion, but hasn’t set a new date for when they wish to reach the overall goal.
“Windows 10 is off to the hottest start in history with over 350m monthly active devices, with record customer satisfaction and engagement,” the statement said.
“We’re pleased with our progress to date, but due to the focusing of our phone hardware business, it will take longer than FY18 for us to reach our goal of one billion monthly active devices.
“In the year ahead, we are excited about usage growth coming from commercial deployments and new devices – and increasing customer delight with Windows.”
Since Windows 10 launched last year, Microsoft has come under fire for the way the update system has been managed, with many users reporting Windows 10 being forced upon them, in some cases making their older computers unstable.
The operating system has been made available free to most Microsoft users, but many have complained the process has been too-heavy handed from Microsoft, something that has been attributed to the firm wanting to reach their billion target as quickly as possible.
The company has just been forced to pay more than £7,000 to a woman in the US after she said her computer – which had run Windows 7 previously – was left unstable after Windows 10 automatically installed on her system. She claimed the update had taken place without her approval and cost her money as it was from where she ran her business.
Microsoft has also been criticised for the way the automatic update system has been implemented, with many users unaware that clicking the red ‘x’ to close a notification window did not count as refusing Windows 10 in the company’s eyes. This is to be changed in a forthcoming update.
The first major update to Windows 10 itself is also due at the beginning of August, when at the same time the opportunity for older Windows users to upgrade to 10 for free will also end.
