Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer may be facing his last chance to convince investors of his strategy, with the company “at a precipice”.

An article in this month’s Vanity Fair criticised the software company for losing its focus, transforming itself into a “staid and brutish” company, crippled by internal politics that struggled to keep employees motivated.

Contributing editor Kurt Eichenwald painted a picture of a company out of touch with how younger users use technology, and which had fallen behind competitors as it passed up opportunities to get a head start on technologies such as e-readers and tablets.

Mr Eichenwald said Microsoft needed to “figure out what it wanted to be when it grows up”, with several companies contained within the tech giant.

He noted that previous firms who had suffered from similar issues – notably IBM – had managed to regroup.