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微软总裁鲍尔默一年内将退休Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer is to retire from the technology giant within the next 12 months. 微软总裁史蒂夫·鲍尔默将在未来12个月内退休。 ? Shares in Microsoft, criticised for its slow response to the booming market for mobile devices, leapt 9% on the news. ? Mr Ballmer, who last month unveiled a restructuring to address the criticism, said in a statement: There is never a perfect time for this type of transition, but now is the right time. ? We need a CEO who will be here longer term for this new direction. ? The worlds biggest software company has created a special committee to find a replacement. This committee includes Microsoft founder Bill Gates. ? Mr Ballmer, 57, succeeded Mr Gates in 2000. The two men met in 1973 while studying at Harvard University, and Mr Ballmer joined the company in 1980. ? Single strategy ? Microsoft emerged as the undisputed leader in the technology sector, and became the worlds largest company by market value. ? But the company had been criticised by investors recently for not reacting quickly enough to the way Apple and Google have led the way in mobile devices. ? Microsoft struggled as consumers began to shun desktops and laptops in favour of tablets and mobile devices.? ? While its Windows software is used on the vast majority of PCs, Microsoft made little impact in the fast-growing tablet and smartphone segments. ? Microsofts transformation plan, announced last month, is trying to address that. ? In a memo to staff last month, Mr Ballmer said that the changes meant the company was rallying behind a single strategy as one company - not a collection of divisional strategies. ? The aim, he said, was to react faster to changes in the market.? ? Andrew Bartels, analyst at Forrester Research, said Mr Ballmer has been rightly criticised for being caught flatfooted by the shift to tablets. ? But he added that he should get big credit for successful products such as the Xbox and Bing.