On Tuesday, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella mentioned on CNBC that the hardware supply chain is coming back online as Asia starts to bounce back from the recent Coronavirus outbreak. However, even with the increased output, the exec still has questions about whether the demand will hold in Europe and the U.S.
Just last month, Microsoft, along with other companies like Apple, indicated that its quarterly revenue guidance was being revised downward for the business division that contains Windows. However, the company is still working to get its products to market including the Xbox gaming console and Surface devices before the end of the year.
As a company, Microsoft is well-positioned to weather the potential impacts that the virus will have on their business. Nadella said, “we have a great balance sheet, we are a diverse business, and that the business is even stronger than it was before the financial crisis in 2007.” Just last week, Microsoft indicated that Microsoft Teams had more than 44 million active daily users compared to 20 million users during this last November, and while there have been some growth challenges to support this increased demand, Microsoft seems to be past the worst of it.
Like many people around the world, Microsoft’s employees have been directly impacted by the virus and because of its shift towards cloud and infrastructure, the company has been able to adopt a very proactive stance when it comes to working from home and supporting remote teams. Indeed, the software giant was one of the early companies to adopt a work from home stance and have been proactive in following public-health guidance so far.
