Even though coronavirus has most companies in the world on their knees, Microsoft’s CEO Satya Nadella said,”Microsoft will get out of COVID-19 crisis ‘pretty strong’, stating that the company is in a strong position from a financial standpoint, despite the fear of the pandemic.
The CEO, in an interview with CNBC, said that the company has what it takes to bear the brunt of the virus. He stated that the big question instead, would be whether the demand holds up in the US and Europe and other developed markets badly hit by the pandemic.
“We feel good about how we are able to meet the demands of work from home kits. On the supply side we are getting back on rails,” Nadella said when asked whether Microsoft would be able to deliver later this year certain products, like the new Surface devices and a revamped Xbox gaming console, it had promised before the COVID-19 outbreak. It is worth noting that the company unveiled its newest gladiator for the next generation of console wars, Xbox Series X consoles, through online channels, instead of the usual E3 event, which has been cancelled this year.
“The question now would be getting the products done and the launch. We are mostly going to focus on quality as well the situation in terms of demand and more importantly, the safety of the people,” he added.
Microsoft’s own event, the Microsoft Build conference, one of the company’s and the tech community’s most sought after events every year, has been planned as a virtual ‘online’ event this year in light of the coronavirus outbreak.
Still, the company also said that it will be missing the mark on the earlier projections of revenues for the first quarter of 2020. Nonetheless, Nadella maintains the position that,”(Microsoft) is a healthy company in terms of financial strength”. “We have a great balance sheet, we are a very diverse business, we have a mix of annuity, non-annuity, that is also stronger than even the last time we even went into the financial crisis,” he said, expanding on the prospects of the company.
