Microsoft is getting its mojo back.
The software giant, which for most of the last decade played bridesmaid to Wall Street darling Apple — introducing little tech innovations while the Cupertino, Calif., company gave the world the iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch — will likely see its shares dust its buzzier rival’s in 2015.
In fact, with Microsoft shares up 20 percent through Dec. 24, the Redmond, Wash., company’s shares have outshone Apple’s over the past four years.
Microsoft is hot on the product front, too, and is poised to take tablet market share away from Apple and Android and cloud business away from Amazon, Time magazine reports in its latest issue.
Thanks to a flurry of successes, including Microsoft 10, Skype Translator and HoloLens — a reality headset — Microsoft is a tech force again, Time reports.
Satya Nadella, the software giant’s chief executive for nearly two years, is credited with driving some of the changes at the company, such as bringing back the “garage,” a place for staffers to tinker on new projects that don’t fit into current plans.
“What’s at a premium for me is not people who say no but people who can make things happen,” Nadella told Time.
Windows 10, launched in July, skippers 9 percent of the world’s desktops, while the potential for HoloLens is growing.
Nadella tells Time that medical schools could train surgeons on virtual bodies while companies could use HoloLens to train workers on virtual equipment.
Microsoft is also betting big on artificial intelligence, “pouring buckets of cash” into things like Skype Translator and new software it unveiled in November that can recognize human emotions from facial expressions.