Microsoft to miss goal to get one billion devices on Windows 10 by FY18

Microsoft admits it is not possible thanks to phone business rejig

Microsoft has admitted it will not reach its goal to get one billion devices running Windows 10 by FY18.

In a statement sent to CRN, the vendor said it will take "longer than FY18" to reach the goal, despite the OS getting off to "the hottest start in history".

The new OS is currently running on 350 million devices, a year after it was released.

Windows 10 was released last year as a free upgrade from Windows 8.1, so adoption stats are difficult to compare because it is the first time Microsoft has released an OS in this way. The free upgrade offer ends imminently, ahead of the Anniversary Update coming out on 2 August.

The vendor told CRN at Microsoft's Worldwide Partner Conference last week that the vast majority of business customers are testing out the new OS.

Last summer, reports surfaced that Microsoft was planning to close the Finnish Nokia hub, resulting in 2,300 job losses. The news came hot on the heels of the firm announcing that 8,000 staff - mainly from the Nokia business - would be going as well.

Microsoft said changes to the phone hardware business are partly to blame for its not hitting its target.

In a statement, Microsoft said: "Windows 10 is off to the hottest start in history with over 350 million monthly active devices, with record customer satisfaction and engagement.

"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."

Kelvin Kirby (pictured), CEO of Microsoft partner Technology Associates, told CRN that he believed the one billion devices target to be "optimistic" in the specified timeframe, but remained positive about the OS in general.

"Even if you don't account for the changes with mobile, I think it is optimistic," he said. "But it will be very interesting to see the [adoption] stats at the end of this month in terms of Windows 10; that will be a key indicator. If [customers] are going to have to pay after that, it may slow down uptake."

He added that some compatibility issues are holding back customers from upgrading from Windows 8.1, but stressed that once these are sorted out, he believes Windows 10 will become more popular.