Microsoft lures executive away from Qualcomm to reel in more business deals in mobile market

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has lured away an executive from smartphone chip maker Qualcomm to hammer out more deals that will expand the software maker's presence in the mobile device market.

Margaret "Peggy" Johnson will serve as Microsoft Corp.'s executive vice president of business development after spending the past 24 years at Qualcomm Corp. She will report directly to Nadella in her new job.

Since succeeding Steve Ballmer as Microsoft's CEO six months ago, Nadella has been focused on ways to make Microsoft's software and other services more appealing to use on smartphones and tablets as people increasingly rely on those devices instead of desktop and laptop computers.

Microsoft, long the most influential force on personal computers, has been eclipsed by Apple Inc. and Google Inc. in the mobile market.