Microsoft: Windows 10 Won't Hit 1 Bln Devices By June 2018

(RTTNews) - Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) said Friday that it will not be able to meet its target of one billion Windows 10 users by June 2018. Microsoft acknowledged "it will take longer" to get Windows 10 on a billion devices.

"We're pleased with our progress to date, but due to the focusing of our phone hardware business, it will take longer than [the end of June in 2018] for us to reach our goal of one billion monthly active devices," Windows marketed head Yusef Medhi said on Friday.

Microsoft set that goal just before launching the latest version of its flagship operating system last summer.

In May, Microsoft said it would lay off 1,850 workers and take a charge of about $950 million in its smartphone business.

Despite the lag, Windows 10 uptake has outpaced the adoption of earlier versions of the software. In June, Microsoft said Windows 10 is now running on more than 350 million PCs and other devices. Adoption has climbed about 17% since early May.

Microsoft said it is offering free upgrades to Windows 10 for devices running Windows 7 or Windows 8 until July 29. Starting July 30, 2016, the company will no longer give out the upgrade for free and instead will start charging $119. So the upgrade rate is expected to slow further.