Global software giant Microsoft began deploying blockchain four years ago

This past weekend, the global software giant Microsoft's market value reached US$889.3 billion, surpassing Apple for the first time in nine years and becoming the world's most valuable company.

Become the "boss" again in 9 years' time

As of March 17, as of the close of the previous trading day, Microsoft's closing price reached US$115.91 per share, with a total market value of US$889.3 billion, surpassing Apple and becoming the most valuable company in the world.

On the same day, Apple closed at $186.12 per share, with a total market value of $877.6 billion.

The last time Microsoft's market value surpassed Apple's was in 2010. In the rapidly evolving technology market, that’s a long time ago.

Although Microsoft's market value surpassed Apple's on November 27 last year, at the close of trading, Apple's market value surpassed Microsoft's. Therefore, November 27, 2018 can only be called "the world's highest market capitalization stock briefly changed hands."

In fact, in the nine years since Apple and Microsoft exchanged market capitalization rankings, the entire technology industry has undergone earth-shaking changes.

In this change, Microsoft seems to be like a turtle, taking its time but moving steadily.

The unhurried “big brother”

In the past five years led by CEO Satya Nadella, Microsoft has been focusing on its own advantages, doing enterprise business that it is good at, and helping to achieve technological changes based on meeting enterprise needs.

Microsoft has redesigned its products and adjusted the way it sells them, relying on companies' desire to buy technology that can help companies withstand future shocks to their employees and operations.

This development strategy applies not only to Microsoft's Azure cloud computing (which competes with Amazon's cloud service to help companies move data from their own data centers to their own cloud platforms), but also is the key to the great progress of businesses such as Office software packages, database technology and software suitable for enterprise sales departments.

Even the PC business is showing signs of resurgence, which is helping Microsoft to some extent.

In 2018, Microsoft's market value steadily surpassed Google's parent company Alphabet and Amazon, and once surpassed Apple.

Since the stock market plunge last October hit the world's largest technology stocks, Microsoft stock has largely avoided the catastrophe. The company's shares have fallen just 8.5% since the end of September, compared with Amazon's 22% decline and Apple's 25% decline.

Regarding Microsoft's performance, analysts from industry investment institutions pointed out that through self-innovation, Microsoft has established a repeatable revenue model. As great as Apple is, most of its revenue comes from one-time sales.

Blockchain layout has a high starting point

Although Microsoft founder Bill Gates has always been skeptical of encryption technology, the underlying technology of blockchain is still one of the areas that Microsoft is most interested in, and the starting point of its layout is also world-class "high".

Four years ago in 2015, Microsoft launched the "Azure Blockchain as a Service (BaaS)" plan. The plan will introduce "blockchain" technology to Azure and provide BaaS services to financial industry customers using Azure cloud services, allowing them to quickly create private, public and hybrid "blockchain" environments.

In 2016, Microsoft announced the launch of an initiative called "open, modular blockchain components" powered by Azure. This plan is called Bletchley, which is to "create a blockchain enterprise ecological alliance using Microsoft's own architecture."

In May 2017, Microsoft announced a new framework to accelerate blockchain deployments that have passed enterprise proofs of concept (PoC) on the Azure cloud platform. Designed to simplify the embedded proof-of-concept process.

In August 2017, Microsoft launched the Coco Blockchain Framework, an enterprise-level open source blockchain basic platform used to build confidential, large-scale blockchain networks that meet enterprise standards.

In May 2018, Microsoft released the Azure Blockchain work platform, providing new application tools for developers to use blockchain technology.

Azure General Manager Matthew Kohner said: The Azure Blockchain Workbench can be quickly started through automated setup, so developers can focus on application logic, while business personnel only need to focus on verifying these applications.

At the end of last year, according to rankings released by market foresight consulting firm ABI Research, Microsoft's Blockchain-as-a-Service (Baas) platform has surpassed IBM and topped the rankings.

According to the report, the reason why Microsoft successfully beat its competitors in the rankings is mainly due to its advantages in actual execution. Microsoft's platform provides a wide range of services.

Another reason is that Microsoft's Baas platform is deeply integrated into its cloud service platform Azure, which holds the second largest share of the global public cloud service market.

Whether Microsoft has become the world's number one in market capitalization this time is a flash in the pan or whether it will be in a stalemate with Apple for some time to come. What is important is who has more vision and strength.

(Source: Shared Finance)