Earlier this week, Microsoft’s Chief Product Officer announced in an internal memo that the company would restructure its core Android teams.
“Teams would include activities on Surface Duo OS, Swift Key, Phone Link, Microsoft Launcher and a handful of other Android teams,” as reported by Windows Central. The new internal organization of Android will be called “Android Microsoft Platform and Experiences“(Or AMPX).
A Microsoft spokesperson confirmed the news:
Like all companies, we regularly evaluate our business. We recently made an organizational change to accelerate our impact and better serve our customers and partners
Microsoft would have “big ideas” for Android and Windows that will be developed in the next few years. The company hopes to integrate Android and Windows in more depth than what’s already available with Phone Link (formerly Your Phone). The ultimate goal would be to position Android as a Windows extension and as a competitive alternative to the kind of integration Apple has with iPhone on MacOS.
The reorganization led to new roles. Shilpa Ranganthan now plays a leading role in the Windows PM organization, replacing Linda Averett: Averett will lead a new team that will oversee privacy and security.
Ali Akgun will lead the new AMPX group, formerly Surface’s CVP at Microsoft. Finally, a confirmation: the reorganization will not lead to any layoffs.
