After years of talk and poor results, it's finally looking as if software giant Microsoft's (MSFT -0.64%) transition to mobile is beginning to take root.
Granted, it still isn't a significant player on the scale of either Apple or Google, but for the first time in a good while, Microsoft has more than just ambitions to make an impact in mobile. Last year, it introduced its best attempt yet at a mobile OS in Windows 8, whose follow-up update, Windows 8.1, is just around the corner. Microsoft's also made strong progress in introducing its own hardware. It launched a mainstream line of tablets and deepened its hardware bench by purchasing Nokia's handset business.
This progress is encouraging and much-needed, but it doesn't come without risks. In particular, investors have worried about how a shift to a more hardware-centric model might affect Microsoft's monumental profits in the years to come. In the following video, tech and telecom analyst Andrew Tonner examines those concerns in greater depth.
