Microsoft underlines allegiance to the channel

At Computex 2017, Microsoft has underlined its commitment to the partner ecosystem with new opportunities to drive growth and customer demand.

Microsoft delved into key areas of focus that it believes will inspire customers, increase momentum in the PC market with the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update and finally stimulate merging categories including Windows Mixed Reality and Azure solutions for the Internet of Things (IoT).

Corporate vice president of Consumer and Device Sales at Microsoft, Nick Parker spoke about new business models scale and expand markets, creating a thriving ecosystem.

According to Parker, this vision begins by inspiring customers with new experiences and devices that empower people and businesses to achieve more.

"Our partner model is unique in the industry as we collaborate, end-to-end, from design, through all phases of the product lifecycle and across consumer and device channels," says Parker.

"Together, we are building new experiences for customers, generating demand and ultimately, creating growth in existing and new categories including Mixed Reality, Internet of Things, and Always Connected PCs with Intel and Qualcomm. At Microsoft, our success scales with our partners and, as an ecosystem, we reinvent existing markets even as we explore new ones.

Parker was joined on stage by Matt Barlow, corporate vice president of Windows Marketing, and Peter Han, vice president of Partner Devices and Solutions, detailing the latest innovation from Windows 10 with the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update and the breadth of devices that enable new Windows 10 experiences.

Barlow highlighted some of the new innovations coming in Windows 10 Fall Creators Update, which includes updates to Windows Ink, 3D, Windows Mixed Reality, security and gaming.

Han spoke about a diverse mix of Windows 10 devices that take advantage of new capabilities such as enhanced inking, built-in game broadcasting, and advanced security all captured in beautiful hardware designs.

Also showcased were the latest collections in consumer, gaming, education and commercial devices from Acer, ASUS, Dell, HP, Lenovo, Panasonic, Samsung and Toshiba

Another interesting topic from Han was  a new operational capability that enables partners to dynamically include Windows Store content to any Windows 10 PC they ship at any time in the manufacturing and resale process, introducing new supply chain agility for the PC ecosystem.