Microsoft (MSFT, $93.78) isn't exactly the flashiest name in the technology space. When most people think of tech, their minds float to the likes of Google search parent Alphabet (GOOGL), iPhone maker Apple (AAPL) and e-commerce giant Amazon (AMZN). But Microsoft remains a juggernaut in its own right - at more than $700 billion in market value - and Morgan Stanley analysts believe it eventually could become a $1 trillion company in the next decade.

Those analysts are particularly optimistic because of Microsoft's increasing position in cloud computing, with its Azure web services gobbling up a large share of the public cloud market. But the Microsoft empire is built on many other successes, new and old, from its Windows operating system to its Office productivity suite to the Xbox gaming-system franchise.

Not everything Microsoft touches turns to gold, however.

Since its founding in 1975, Microsoft has accumulated a pile of failures to go along with its list of smash hits. Innovation, after all, often means learning from your mistakes - and the king of PCS has had more than its share of mistakes. Some of those flops were inconsequential and even comical, while other larger missteps were so significant, they likely helped bolster the fortunes of companies such as Apple and Alphabet.

Here's a look at 15 of Microsoft's most notable flops, and what they have meant to the company over the years:

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Wearables continue to be one of the hottest tech product categories, and experts say they'll only get bigger. Research firm IDC