After purchasing the Nokia Devices and Services division earlier this year, Microsoft has announced 18,000 layoffs over the next year – the largest in the company’s history. The layoffs will affect the Nokia division which sees 12,500 layoffs and this is being done to eliminate any overlap with current Microsoft teams. CEO Satya Nadella stated that these job cuts would ensure “more productive, impactful teams across Microsoft.”

It was earlier reported that marketing teams in the Xbox division could be affected as well but Microsoft Devices group head Stephen Elop said there would be “limited change” in that regard. “With a set of changes already implemented earlier this year in these teams, this means there will be limited change for the Surface, Xbox hardware, PPI/meetings or next generation teams.”

Nadella already talked about how important the Xbox brand was to Microsoft and with the recent success of the console in the US – which doubled its sales in June after the price drop – it’s highly unlikely the situation changes any time soon. Stay tuned for more information on the same as it arrives.

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Before current Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella took the reins, there was talk that the Xbox division within the company should be sold off. Nadella said in May that he had no intention of doing anything differently with the Xbox brand and has now sent out an email to staff on the Microsoft website pledging his support for the brand.

“I also want to share some additional thoughts on Xbox and its importance to Microsoft. As a large company, I think it’s critical to define the core, but it’s important to make smart choices on other businesses in which we can have fundamental impact and success. The single biggest digital life category, measured in both time and money spent, in a mobile-first world is gaming.

“We are fortunate to have Xbox in our family to go after this opportunity with unique and bold innovation. Microsoft will continue to vigorously innovate and delight gamers with Xbox. Xbox is one of the most-revered consumer brands, with a growing online community and service, and a raving fan base. We also benefit from many technologies flowing from our gaming efforts into our productivity efforts – core graphics and NUI in Windows, speech recognition in Skype, camera technology in Kinect for Windows, Azure cloud enhancements for GPU simulation and many more.

“Bottom line, we will continue to innovate and grow our fan base with Xbox while also creating additive business value for Microsoft.”

At last count, the Xbox One stands at 5 million units sold worldwide.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has provided his own stance on the company potentially selling the Xbox side of the business at the recent Code Conference in California.

In conversation with Kara Swisher and Walt Mossberg (via The Verge), Nadella stated that, “I have no intent to do anything different with Xbox than we are doing today.” He also added Bing to the proverbial list so don’t look for Microsoft to abandoning its search engine any time soon.

Nadella also stated that, “It is the thing that is really going to power all the experiences on all the devices today and tomorrow. In order to be in the hunt for those experiences, and get it right, you do need to from time to time build devices, so you don’t leave anything to chance.”

Rumours of Microsoft potentially selling off its Xbox division due to heavy losses emerged not too long ago when Steve Ballmer was in charge.

Corporate VP of Microsoft Games Studios Phil Spencer congratulated Satya Nadella on becoming the new CEO of Microsoft on Twitter. In between, Spencer also made sure to mention that Nadella supports both the game studios and the Xbox brand – something which many feared would be in danger if Nokia’s Stephen Elop took over as CEO.

“Yes, I know Satya. He’s been a good supporter of Studios and XBOX.” Spencer did make sure to add that Elop understands how important Xbox is to the company.

Spencer also made sure to talk about free to play titles on the Xbox One, stating that there would be something down the line. “I agree. Want to support 360 first but obviously looking down the road at XB1.”

Satya Nadella was originally in charge of Microsoft adapting Cloud computing for its various services. He was selected as the CEO of Microsoft, effective immediately, yesterday. Stay tuned for more.

In the midst of months of speculation regarding its next CEO, Microsoft has finally announced that Executive Vice President of Microsoft’s Cloud and Enterprise group Satya Nadella is now CEO and a member of the Board of Directors effectively immediately. Current CEO Steve Ballmer will retire from his current role and pave the way for Nadella to lead the company forward.

Founder Bill Gates stated that, “During this time of transformation, there is no better person to lead Microsoft than Satya Nadella. Satya is a proven leader with hard-core engineering skills, business vision and the ability to bring people together. His vision for how technology will be used and experienced around the world is exactly what Microsoft needs as the company enters its next chapter of expanded product innovation and growth.”

Steve Ballmer stated that, “Having worked with him for more than 20 years, I know that Satya is the right leader at the right time for Microsoft. I’ve had the distinct privilege of working with the most talented employees and senior leadership team in the industry, and I know their passion and hunger for greatness will only grow stronger under Satya’s leadership.”

Nadella has been credited for Microsoft’s move to Cloud computing, especially when it comes to implementing Cloud infrastructures in services such as Bing, Xbox, Office and more. He stated that, ““Microsoft is one of those rare companies to have truly revolutionized the world through technology, and I couldn’t be more honored to have been chosen to lead the company. The opportunity ahead for Microsoft is vast, but to seize it, we must focus clearly, move faster and continue to transform. A big part of my job is to accelerate our ability to bring innovative products to our customers more quickly.”

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