Microsoft to sell Xbox and ditch Bing under Elop regime?

News has hit the wire that if former Nokia CEO Stephen Elop becomes the new CEO of Microsoft, he will push to center the company's strategy around making Office available on a broad variety of smartphones and tablets. Traditionally Microsoft used Office to drive demand for Windows, but Elop reportedly wants to break with decades of tradition and intends to maximize sales of Office.

Beside a greater emphasize on Office, Elop would also be prepared to sell of even shut down parts of the company. The loss-making Bing search engine for instance might be ditched if Elop becomes CEO, and he also has plans to sell off the Xbox game console division.

Earlier this week, investors drove Microsoft shares to their highest price since mid-2000, after Nomura Holdings Inc. analyst Rick Sherlund said the sale of Bing and Xbox, along with other moves, could lift fiscal 2015 earnings by 40 percent.

“Microsoft is trying to do too much, and these assets add no clear value to the overall business,” wrote Sherlund, who added that he thought Mulally was most likely to get the nod to replace Ballmer.

Source: Bloomberg