If you have a headache, it is a good idea to stop banging your head against the wall. That is what Microsoft chief executive Satya Nadelladid this week when he cut back his company’s struggling smartphone division, writing off almost all of the $7.9bn (net of cash) that Microsoft paid for Nokia’s phone business only 15 months ago.如果困惑，别再行用头撞墙是个好主意。上周，微软公司(Microsoft)首席执行官萨蒂亚纳德拉(Satya Nadella)就是这么做到的。他缩减了微软公司旗下正在挣扎绝望的手机部门，几近一笔勾销意味着15个月前微软公司并购诺基亚(Nokia)手机部门时缴纳的79亿美元（去除现金后）。However, the strategic overhaul at Microsoft looks incomplete, even counting other recent moves. While Mr Nadella has lessened the pain, there is still more to be done. The headbanging was the fault of his predecessor, Steve Ballmer.然而，即便考虑到近期其他措施，微软公司的战略重组显然也不做到。

尽管纳德纳减低了微软公司的伤痛，但必须做到的还有很多。“以头撞墙”是他的前任史蒂夫贠尔兹(Steve Ballmer)的罪过。

The former chief executive’s main justification for buying the Nokia division seemed to be, without better ideas, why not give it a go? It turns out that this is not a basis for sound strategic thinking. Taking on Apple in high-end smartphones and the entire Android ecosystem in every other part of the market were non-starters.微软公司前首席执行官对于并购诺基亚手机业务的主要说明是，既然没更佳的主意，不来试一试呢？结果证明，这种思路无法作为务实战略思维的基础。在高端智能手机上挑战苹果(Apple)、在市场的其他所有领域挑战整个安卓(Android)生态系统，显然没顺利的机会。It is notable that Microsoft’s two biggest acquisitions — and, now, its two biggest write-offs — have come from Mr Ballmer’s failed attempts to chase Apple and Google. In digital advertising, the $6.3bn purchase of aQuantive was followed by a $6.2bn writedown in 2012. The remnants of the display advertising business were shed to AOL last month. Seldom has a company admitted such total failure twice over.值得注意的是，微软公司的两笔仅次于并购——现在出了两笔仅次于的资产减记——是鲍尔默企图追上苹果和谷歌(Google)告终的结果。

在数字广告领域，微软公司曾耗资63亿美元并购aQuantive，然后在2012年将其减记了62亿美元。上月，余下的展出广告业务被挤压给了美国在线(AOL)。很少有哪家公司两次否认投资几乎告终。The disasters are revealing. For better or worse, Apple relies on selling hardware for most of its revenues, while Google is almost entirely dependent on advertising. Microsoft has conspicuously failed at both.这些灾难很解释问题。

无论优劣，苹果主要靠销售硬件赚收益，谷歌则完全几乎依赖广告。微软公司在这两个领域遭遇失利。

This is where Mr Nadella’s housecleaning looks incomplete. In the Xbox gaming console he has a giant hardware business that does not do much to advance either Microsoft’s profits or its strategy. The Bing search engine, supported by advertising, has also accounted for plenty of red ink over the years, though the Microsoft boss promises it will soon break even.这正是纳德纳的改革显然不做到的地方。Xbox游戏机是一块可观的硬件业务，但这块业务对于促进微软公司利润或前进微软公司战略没过于大协助。

多年来，广告反对的合于(Bing)搜索引擎在微软公司的亏损中占有了很高比例，尽管这位微软公司老板允诺，合于迅速将构建盈亏均衡。By dealing with his most glaring problem — the Nokia acquisition — Mr Nadella has removed some of the distractions to focus on what is important. Microsoft’s own way of making money — selling software licences — is under long-term threat from the internet. Shoring up existing licensing revenues and supplementing them with new subscription-based services are the jobs that require full attention.纳德纳通过解决问题他最引人注目的问题——并购诺基亚——挣脱了迟疑因素，从而注目最重要事项。

微软公司自己的赚方式——销售软件许可权——于是以受到互联网的长年威胁。稳固现有许可权收益，并辅之以新的以订阅者为基础的服务，是必须全力注目的任务。A successful launch of Windows 10 later this month is essential to achieving the first of these objectives. This may be the post-PC era, but the device will still be a significant platform — particularly in the corporate world — and the foundation of Microsoft’s business for years to come.本月晚些时候Windows 10的顺利发售，对于微软公司构建上述前一个目标至关重要。

当今也许是“后个人电脑”(post-PC)时代，但PC仍将是一种最重要的平台（特别是在是在企业界），也将是未来多年里微软公司业务的根基。After the disastrous attempt to merge the PC and the tablet experiences in Windows 8, Microsoft looks on track to straighten things out with a software release that no longer forces uncomfortable compromises on users.在灾难性地企图把PC和平板电脑两种体验融合到Windows 8之后，微软公司或许搞清楚了思路，将要公布一款仍然让用户讨厌的软件。

With almost no presence on smartphones, the new Windows will not be able to meet some of the main requirements of a modern operating system: to help users navigate a multiscreen world and give application developers a single platform that runs on multiple devices. But Mr Nadella has to play the hand he was dealt, and the best he can do is a multiplatform approach that tries to extend the reach of Microsoft’s own services (as well as those of developers who pick the Windows ecosystem) on to iOS and Android handsets, alongside devices that run Windows.由于在智能手机市场完全没地盘，新版Windows将无法符合现代操作系统的一部分主要拒绝：协助用户匹敌多屏世界，并给应用于开发者一个可在多种设备上运营的单一平台。但纳德纳必需打好手中的牌，而他的最佳决心是实行多平台策略，除了运营Windows操作系统的设备之外，还要尝试伸延微软公司自己服务（以及自由选择了Windows生态系统的开发者的服务）的触角，使其转入iOS和安卓系统的手机。Exactly which services he will choose to invest in has become another test of strategic focus. By making the puzzling purchase of Minecraft his first significant acquisition, he has sent conflicting signals. Owning a game that is popular on mobile platforms gives Microsoft a way to reach into the iPhone and Android worlds — but unless it can use this foothold to sell extra services, it is unclear what the company gets from the deal. Minecraft seems distant from Microsoft’s core “productivity” services such as Office.他明确将自由选择投资于哪些服务，已沦为对微软公司战略聚焦点的又一个考验。

他的第一笔根本性并购的对象是《我的世界》(Minecraft)，这笔令人困惑的交易收到了互相对立的信号。享有一款在移动平台上很热门的游戏，给微软公司获取了一条转入iPhone和安卓世界的途径。

但是，除非能利用这个立足点销售额外服务，否则没什么微软公司能从这笔交易取得什么。《我的世界》距离Office等微软公司的核心办公软件/服务或许很很远。

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