Before the advent of modern technological devices, people in the Western world mostly used typewriters. During this period, two friends, Bill Gates and Paul Allen, came together to develop something to revolutionize the system. They founded Microsoft, a company that made computer software in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
The company relocated to Washington, D.C., in 1979 and soon became a multinational technology corporation. Microsoft proliferated following the licensing and successful debut of its first operating system, MS-DOS, in 1981. Since then, Microsoft has not stopped pushing for more growth and expansion, and its usability is continually rising. Below are interesting facts about Microsoft you should know by now!
Top Statistics
Mind-blowing Microsoft statistics
1. Microsoft boasts offices in over 100 countries of the world.
Microsoft continues to grow and expand its services worldwide, establishing offices in various countries to make its services accessible to users. These offices also enable the purchase of hardware like PCs, Xbox consoles, and surface products. Users can also download digital content and software, including games, TV shows, apps, and movies.
2. Microsoft came into existence in 1975.
Bill Gates and Paul Allen founded Microsoft in 1975, and the company has experienced massive growth since then. Later, Paul Allen left the company under the care of Bill Gates, who turned it into the world tech giant it is today.
3. Microsoft’s market value is currently at $3.15 Trillion
As of April 2024, Microsoft’s market capitalization was $3.15 trillion. With this data, Microsoft is inarguably the world’s most valued company by market cap, according to reports. In the coming months, the current market cap is expected to surpass the increases in the company’s publicly traded shares.
4. over 220,000 full-time employees are working for Microsoft
Across the globe, Microsoft boasts 221,000 people employed in positions worldwide. Most Microsoft employees are in the company’s home country, the United States. According to reports, over 60% of the company’s employees are in the U.S.
5. Microsoft’s stock price is currently $423.
Microsoft’s stock price has soared from $232 in the last two years. So far, the Microsoft stock market has set record-breaking share prices. As of April 2024, Microsoft’s share price was $423; based on this price, Microsoft is the top-selling stock in the market.
Microsoft Stock Market Statistics 2025
6. Profits from Microsoft are invested for further expansion.
Microsoft Sales and marketing spending has increased slowly; Microsoft is estimated to have spent over $6 billion in the past ten years. Aside from sales and marketing, Microsoft also spends vast sums of money on research and development. In 2023, over $27 billion was channeled toward research and development.
7. Microsoft is ranked the most valuable company in the world, followed by Apple.
According to reports from 2024, Microsoft has risen to the position of the world’s number one tech giant, surpassing Apple.
8. Microsoft Office covers 72% of the office productivity software market.
As of February 2024, Microsoft Windows desktop operating system dominated worldwide, with a 72% market share.
9. Microsoft owns the most significant operating systems.
Currently, Android and Windows are the most significant operating systems globally. In the fourth quarter of 2023, Android had a market share of 70.1%, leaving 29.2% of the market share for its closest rival, Apple’s iOS. Like the Android operating system, Windows is used the most globally; Windows currently takes up 72.99% of the market share for desktop computers and laptops.
10. Most Chinese companies use Microsoft O.S.
Before Microsoft, the Chinese people used expensive Linux. The introduction of Microsoft OS to the Chinese government led to its wide adoption because it was affordable. Around 90% of the Chinese population uses Microsoft’s operating system today.
Microsoft Users Statistics
11. As of 2024, over 320 million people use Microsoft Teams.
The use of Microsoft Teams increased during the COVID-19 pandemic, when people had to work from home, and many practices like social distancing grew. Thus, within a short period, Microsoft witnessed a massive increase in the daily use of its platform, which allowed for collaboration and communication.
12. There are over 1.5 billion Microsoft Office users.
Globally, Microsoft Office users have grown enormously, and it is said that anyone who has used a computer within the last 30 years must have used one Microsoft Office product or another. The popularity of Microsoft Office products has made it easier for millions of businesses, no matter the operating scale, to rely on Microsoft productivity tools for collaboration, communication, and bookkeeping.
13. A large number of Fortune 100 companies use Microsoft products.
Microsoft products like Teams cannot be overemphasized; its collaborative and communication features have made it hard for companies not to use them. Currently, over 500,000 organizations use Teams, including 91 out of Fortune 100 companies.
14. 34% of the Microsoft Office 365 customers are located in the United States
The United States, which happens to be Microsoft’s home country, has the highest number of people using Microsoft Office 365; according to reports, the United States accounts for 34% of the customers, while the United Kingdom accounts for barely 8%.
15. Over a million companies use Microsoft 365 worldwide.
Microsoft 365 is a brand name for different software applications that offer productivity services to Microsoft subscribers. The applications grouped under Microsoft 365 are Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, OneDrive, Outlook, and Microsoft Teams. Initially, Microsoft 365 was called Office 365.
Usage Statistics of Microsoft
16. In 2022, Microsoft 365 generated $63.36 billion
According to reports, over 345 million users have subscribed to the Microsoft 365 paid seats. Microsoft 365 recorded a whooping sum of $63.36 billion in revenue from these subscriptions in 2022.
17. Microsoft’s top competitors are IBM, Google (GOOG), Apple (AAPL), and SAP SE (SAP).
Microsoft is involved in various areas in the technology sector, so it is bound to have severe competition and competitors. Microsoft’s competitors are diversified and range from the very prominent companies in the technology industry to the least one of them.
18. Microsoft is one of the significant providers of cloud service
The list of the top cloud service providers in the world cannot be complete without mentioning a Microsoft product. Microsoft has made a name for itself in the cloud service sector among prominent service providers like Amazon Web Services (AWS) and the Google Cloud Platform (GCP).
19. There are over 669,000 Apps on the Microsoft Store
Reports show over 2.8 million apps in the Google Play Store, while the Apple Store has over 2.3 million apps, leaving the Microsoft Store in the third position with 669,000 Apps. Out of the 669 thousand apps on the Microsoft store, over 44 thousand gaming apps are hosted and distributed on the Microsoft store.
20. Microsoft OneDrive accounts for 39.35% of the world’s cloud storage users.
Although OneDrive may not be the most used cloud storage provider, it is one of the top three in the world. Users of Microsoft 365 find it very comforting to use OneDrive since it is incorporated into Microsoft 365. Users can also decide to use OneDrive separately. Google Drive is rated as the number one cloud storage provider used by over 90% of cloud storage users.
Microsoft Bing Statistics
21. Over 180 countries have access to Microsoft Teams.
Microsoft Teams is not limited to a particular region; as such, it is available in 181 countries and 44 major languages.
22. In 2022, Bing Generated $6.24 billion in net ad revenue
According to reports, the Microsoft-owned search engine generated $6.24 billion in net advertisement revenue in 2022. Bing has always been in stiff competition with Google, which is known to be the most used search engine globally.
23. Bing has a 3.42% market share.
Having claimed the second position as the largest search engine worldwide, Bing has also garnered a 3.42% market share.
24. There are over 500 million Bing visitors per month
Bing boasts of over 500 million unique visitors each month on its domain Bing.com, and it is safe to say that Bing as a search engine has gained good traction and won the hearts of a good number of internet users globally.
25. Bing accounts for 54.68% market share among U.S. console users
Inarguably, Bing surpasses Google in this device segment regarding market share. Bing has a dominant number of console users in the United States, covering a market share of up to 54.68%.
26. There are over 100 million users search daily on Bing
With the rise in traffic generated on the Bing platform, the amount of queries entered on the platform has also increased. According to reports, well over 100 million queries are entered by Bing users on the platform.
Microsoft Windows Usage Statistics
27. Most searches on the Bing platform are research for online products
A good number of people who make use of the Microsoft search engine are primarily interested in researching various online products. Around 55% of the searches on the network are particularly research for online products.
28. The United States accounts for significant Bing traffic.
The primary users of the Bing search engine are located in the U.S. Specifically, 33% of the traffic coming into the Bing search engine is from residents of the United States.
29. 72.99% of computer and laptop users use Microsoft Windows.
Microsoft Windows has the highest number of users globally; other competitors are far behind the tech giant in this respect.
30. There are over 1.4 billion Windows 10 users.
As of April 2022, Microsoft reported having over 1.4 billion active devices monthly running Microsoft Windows 10. Meanwhile, by 2024, Microsoft Windows 11 had reached over 500 million active devices per month. For now, over 400 million active devices use Windows 11.
Microsoft Teams Usage Statistics
31. Microsoft Teams is used by over 320 million users worldwide.
According to a 2024 report, the Microsoft collaborative and communication platform Teams recorded over 320 million active users. Many organizations are turning to Teams to solve office complexities. Between 2018 and 2021, there was a huge spike in the adoption of Microsoft Teams, and this was because of the increase in remote jobs and virtual meetings caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
32. More than 1 million organizations make use of Microsoft Teams
All over the world, lots of companies, both big and small, make use of Microsoft Teams. Even top Microsoft competitors make use of Microsoft Teams. There are over a million companies making use of Microsoft Teams, including the free and paid services. The above figure should be exceeded by now, considering that companies have adopted collaborative workspaces, which help employees work together and communicate within themselves.
33. Microsoft is more prevalent among people between the ages of 35 to 44 years
Of every three users of Microsoft Teams, one is between 35 and 44 years old, and only a tiny fraction are below 18 to 24. This is because Teams is popular among older generations.
34. Males use Microsoft Teams more than Females.
According to reports, about 72.86% of Teams users are male, while females have a staggering percentage of about 27.14%.
35. 300 conversations are carried out on Microsoft Teams every minute
With the increase in the use of Microsoft Teams, many discussions and activities are carried out on the platform. It is recorded that every minute that passes, there are over 300 conversations carried out on the platform.
Microsoft Brand Loyalty Statistics
36. Microsoft Teams recorded about 4.1 billion meeting minutes in a day. The pandemic gave rise to a wide adoption of various online platforms. Microsoft Teams was not left out in the spike in user adoption. As of April 2020, Microsoft Teams generated more than 4.1 billion meeting minutes in a day, with over 200 million Microsoft Teams participants in active meetings that day.
37. There were over 108 million Microsoft Teams downloads in 2023. According to reports, in the first quarter of 2023 alone, there were about 29 million Microsoft Teams downloads; these downloads mostly came from people residing in Europe, African regions, and the Middle East, with about 11 million. There were about 25 million downloads in the second quarter, while the third and fourth quarter had 27 million downloads of Microsoft Teams.
38. Over 1,000 attendees can be hosted at Microsoft Teams’ web conferences and webinars. Microsoft Teams is one of the few platforms that allows a large number of participants to participate at once in a live conference meeting. In addition to the number of attendees possible on the platform, web conferences can be streamed to over 10,000 people.
39. Microsoft leads in brand loyalty worldwide; about 76% of households worldwide own one or more Microsoft-branded tablets or computers.
40. 41% of computers and tablets in homes are Microsoft-branded, and more Apple smartphones are used in these homes.
41. In 2023, Microsoft was recognized as having a very rigid reputation; it was also listed among the top 100 companies in the world with a very good corporate reputation, if not the best.
Microsoft Software Statistics
42. Microsoft OneDrive is used by 85% of Fortune 500 companies. It is a cloud storage platform, like Google Drive and Dropbox. Many people use Microsoft OneDrive as part of the packages in Microsoft 365, although Google Drive is the most widely used cloud storage platform.
43. Over 600 million people use Microsoft Edge globally.
44. In 2016, Microsoft paid $26.2 billion to purchase LinkedIn, a social platform for connecting and collaborating with people with similar interests.
45. According to reports, Microsoft Launcher had over 10 million downloads as of December 2017.
46. Microsoft Azure is used by over 20 million active users globally.
47. Over 20 trillion transactions are carried out on Microsoft Azure daily.
48. Over 10 million virtual machines are run with Microsoft Azure.
49. Microsoft paid $2.5 billion for Minecraft, a popular gaming application, in 2014.
50. Microsoft Teams, Surface, Azure, Bing, Edge, Office, Xbox, Windows, and GitHub are all Microsoft brands and subsidiaries
Microsoft Revenue Statistics
51. Microsoft’s revenue comes from software and operating license fees. While not everything Microsoft service is paid for, most have a free version attached to them. Users can pay a premium to enjoy a particular feature, but many Microsoft users use free versions.
52. Microsoft recorded a substantial net income of $61.3 billion in 2021.
53. The global revenue from Microsoft reached over $168 billion in 2021.
54. China accounts for 2% of Microsoft’s revenue
Enthralling Facts About Microsoft
55. Two years after Microsoft Windows was released, Bill Gates officially became the youngest billionaire in the world. He was 31 years old then.
56. Microsoft’s first significant deal was worth $50,000 in 1980 when IBM hired Microsoft to develop the operating system for its new computer.
57. Windows 1.0 was Microsoft’s first release. It was a 16-bit system released in November 1985.
58. The inspiration for X in the Microsoft product Xbox came from Windows’ DirectX software, the operating system used for processing graphics.
59. In 1981, the company removed the hyphen from its name, which became Microsoft instead of Micro-soft.
60. Microsoft’s search engine Bing accurately predicted that Argentina and Germany would play in the 2014 World Cup final.
61. It took Microsoft founders Bill Gates and Allen Paul less than a day to design the Microsoft logo.
62. Microsoft’s employees are nicknamed “softies.”
63. Apple was once saved from bankruptcy by Microsoft.
64. Although Microsoft and Apple are inarguably the biggest competitors in the technology industry, people don’t know that Bill Gates and Apple founder Steve Jobs once worked together.
65. Microsoft’s name was coined from “Microcomputer Software.”
Microsoft’s Top Alternatives and Competitors
Here is a list of Microsoft competitors and alternatives in various categories:
- Apache OpenOffice
- Apple Ofice Suite/ iWork
- Microsoft 365 Online
- FreeOffice
- WPS office
- Dropbox Paper
- Google Workspace
Conclusion
Though initially founded for microprocessors and software to produce software for the Altair 8800, an early personal computer, Microsoft has expanded exceptionally. While the successful launch of MS-DOS kicked off this growth, the company has introduced other star products over the years.
Microsoft has seen many improvements in its technological innovations over 30 years ago, and more is yet to come. Today, people across the globe widely use Microsoft, making it an undeniable household name. These incredible Microsoft statistics suggest the company is not planning to stop expanding and exploring new boundaries; we can only expect more.
FAQS
Microsoft mainly provides cloud computing services, computer and gaming hardware, video games, search, and other online services.
Microsoft offers various products, but its major products are the Windows line of operating systems, the Edge web browser, and the Microsoft 365 suite of productivity applications.
Microsoft users are mainly in the United States, the company’s home country. Most companies in the United States use Microsoft for the applications suite.
Microsoft competes with the world’s top technology companies, such as Apple (AAPL), Google (GOOG), and IBM (IBM).
Be What’s Next!
Microsoft doesn’t do business in Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Sudan or Syria.
Micro-soft, short for micro-computer software.
