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CNNMoney: Microsoft is a dying consumer brand
- Thread starter *LTD*
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Microsoft isn't going anywhere. For 90% of people, Microsoft Windows works... and works well at that.
Xbox 360 is doing well. Office is doing well. Windows Mobile 7 is going to initially do bad but I think if they continue working on it it will become a viable option. I need a new phone this spring, I might go for one. Who knows.
What Microsoft needs to do is enter a new industry. It's been in it's comfort zone for too long.
Xbox 360 is doing well. Office is doing well. Windows Mobile 7 is going to initially do bad but I think if they continue working on it it will become a viable option. I need a new phone this spring, I might go for one. Who knows.
What Microsoft needs to do is enter a new industry. It's been in it's comfort zone for too long.
It may be true ... Bill Gates just emailed me and asked if he could sleep on my couch?
Seriously though ... Microsoft is not going anywhere ... The Business world is never going to replace their computers with Macs. The cost is just too high.
Seriously though ... Microsoft is not going anywhere ... The Business world is never going to replace their computers with Macs. The cost is just too high.
Microsoft is dying cos it's profits rose by 25%?
Well its consumer products like Windows 7 and XBOX are only the fastest selling OS ever and the top selling game console for the last 4 months.
There's a whopping great difference between losing luster in your image and going out of business. Microsoft doesn't have the image they used to, true, but this hardly means they've turned into a shoddy fly-by-night outfit that's unsafe to invest in.
I beg to differ. Large corporations, likely no. Small business? Probly yes. I've known a few just in my area that have upgraded and made the switch to Macintosh.
I beg to differ. Large corporations, likely no. Small business? Probly yes. I've known a few just in my area that have upgraded and made the switch to Macintosh.
This article doesn't surprise me. While I don't think MS is going anywhere I definitely think they need to rethink their strategy.
Vista was their biggest mistake. Bigger then ME in my opinion because when vista was released, Apple already switched to an intel processor and suddenly macs worked with so much more stuff. This caused people who couldn't use Vista due to problems with file transfer speeds (my case) or many other reasons to abandon ship and find a working OS. (This is when I switched to Apple). They remembered the pig ME was, they had XP which worked fine for the most part, now Vista is out and its just as bad as ME, and the whole time Macs have gotten so much better. Why not switch to Mac? (Or Linux)
Yes, I know windows 7 is out but frankly me and many other people don't care. Its still vista, it just doesn't crash as much. Its still bloated, has very poor organization for settings and system tools (although the "god mode" is convenient), doesn't have things like native ISO support, multiple desktops etc. Yes I know there are third party alternatives to these things (I work in IT and have for 15 years fixing windows desktops and servers so trust me, I know) but I shouldn't have to be bothered going and hunting down and installing a bunch of third party stuff just to get a decently functioning OS (for my uses).
Microsoft is becoming stale. Hopefully this is a wakeup call for them that they can't keep releasing buggy OSs (before ME was Windows 98 pre-SE). Right now its almost as if every other release has problems. Consumers remember that and tend to vote with their wallet.
Vista was their biggest mistake. Bigger then ME in my opinion because when vista was released, Apple already switched to an intel processor and suddenly macs worked with so much more stuff. This caused people who couldn't use Vista due to problems with file transfer speeds (my case) or many other reasons to abandon ship and find a working OS. (This is when I switched to Apple). They remembered the pig ME was, they had XP which worked fine for the most part, now Vista is out and its just as bad as ME, and the whole time Macs have gotten so much better. Why not switch to Mac? (Or Linux)
Yes, I know windows 7 is out but frankly me and many other people don't care. Its still vista, it just doesn't crash as much. Its still bloated, has very poor organization for settings and system tools (although the "god mode" is convenient), doesn't have things like native ISO support, multiple desktops etc. Yes I know there are third party alternatives to these things (I work in IT and have for 15 years fixing windows desktops and servers so trust me, I know) but I shouldn't have to be bothered going and hunting down and installing a bunch of third party stuff just to get a decently functioning OS (for my uses).
Microsoft is becoming stale. Hopefully this is a wakeup call for them that they can't keep releasing buggy OSs (before ME was Windows 98 pre-SE). Right now its almost as if every other release has problems. Consumers remember that and tend to vote with their wallet.
The scary thing is business have been, mostly small ones but thats scary for me because I'm a windows tech! Macs work REALLY well, no one can argue that, if they do they were never in IT plain and simple. When I would work in places with dual setups, I'd have a ridiculous ratio of fixed macs to fixed windows machines. The only time I'd have to do anything on the macs too was always users not knowing how to do something. I wouldn't get the windows problems like pst files corrupting, or Adobe pro corrupting itself, or NTDLR missing, etc. that kept me busy all day.
Even though the cost for a mac based office up front is more expensive, it pays for itself almost instantly by not needing as many, if any IT guys on the payroll. One office I was always going to recently switched to mac, and after I set them up I haven't got a call from them since :/ Its been YEARS. (I know they don't have another IT guy either since my friend owns the place, her stuff just never goes down anymore).
I applied for a job with them and had a bunch of great ideas. The people I spoke with sort of said "that's nice" but really weren't interested.
They're a large global corporation, and if they're happy and making a profit in their marketplace - that's their right...
They also have the right to let a company like Apple make it in their own niche market and be the industry trend-setter...
If you do what makes you happy - who's to criticize?
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That's right, Microsoft is "letting" Apple succeed, so Apple can run roughshod over them on a continual basis in key markets. MS is "letting" Apple set the pace of change in the market so CNN can run mindshare-crushing articles about how Microsoft half-assing it under Ballmer, year after year. It's all a plan by the shareholders to keep the stock flat year after year in order to initiate a buying frenzy upon announcmement that MS will continue to keep the failed Zune project on life-support for yet another year. It's all a diabolical plan by MS. LOL
That's right, MS is letting Apple set the pace of change and define trends because without them there would be no one to follow, copy, and otherwise define the road ahead. Now THAT makes perfect sense.
That's right, Microsoft is "letting" Apple succeed, so Apple can run roughshod over them on a continual basis in key markets. MS is "letting" Apple set the pace of change in the market so CNN can run mindshare-crushing articles about how Microsoft half-assing it under Ballmer, year after year. It's all a plan by the shareholders to keep the stock flat year after year in order to initiate a buying frenzy upon announcmement that MS will continue to keep the failed Zune project on life-support for yet another year. It's all a diabolical plan by MS. LOL
That's right, MS is letting Apple set the pace of change and define trends because without them there would be no one to follow, copy, and otherwise define the road ahead. Now THAT makes perfect sense.
To many apple fanboys hate on Microsoft, don't forget who kept Apple afloat.
I don't think Windows 7 is a bad OS, half the people who have problems with "windows" really just have problems with companys like Dell who build out **** quality computers and everyone turns around and blames Windows for being ****, when their hardware fails. Unfortunately not many Windows based computer companys are good, most of them being ****, Dell being a prime example.
Microsoft is profitable, and will be for a long time. So even if it declines over the next 10 years, It will be making revenue.
I don't think Windows 7 is a bad OS, half the people who have problems with "windows" really just have problems with companys like Dell who build out **** quality computers and everyone turns around and blames Windows for being ****, when their hardware fails. Unfortunately not many Windows based computer companys are good, most of them being ****, Dell being a prime example.
Microsoft is profitable, and will be for a long time. So even if it declines over the next 10 years, It will be making revenue.
Actually they did. Without that investment, the agreement not to continue any sort of lawsuits and also most importantly, developing office and internet explorer helped keep apple going.
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That investment was part of a settlement. Microsoft was compelled by Apple because they were caught stealing QuickTime code. They didn't "invest" out of compassion. Actually, Apple acted very cleverly at the time. If you read about the situation carefully, it almost looks as if Apple extorted money and concessions out of MS.
That investment was part of a settlement. Microsoft was compelled by Apple because they were caught stealing QuickTime code. They didn't "invest" out of compassion. Actually, Apple acted very cleverly at the time. If you read about the situation carefully, it almost looks as if Apple extorted money and concessions out of MS.
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given the trend that Microsoft is taking of late - and their lack of "features" through OS updates (reminds me of apple actually heh) i would say that their consumer market is taking a hit for certain things. their Mac Office 2011 certainly is terrible in my honest opinion, PC Office is stable and quite decent. Win7 and their mobile OS of going good because microsoft already has a stable user base and its "better" then Vista
overall i would say that microsoft are going fine currently, 5 years in the future i am not sure.
Oh yes, they can turn it right around by finding a bright, innovative competing company and either:
1- Steal their product directly then tie things up in the courts until it's too late.
2-Become an "outside vendor" for some of the code.... then sabotage it!
3- Make slipshod, intentionally badly executed copies of their softwares so as to prevent a successful lawsuit. Then, imply that ALL software with similar features (like oh, say, a GUI) is just as bad... or even worse!
4- Perform a "Hostile Takeover". With a capital "H".
5- If all else fails and no other options exist, just buy out the company on the open market.
Oh wait! They've already CRUSHED all competing companies!
There goes "Plan A".
Oh, except for maybe one.
Soooo...is it too early to start singing "Ding Dong The Wicked Witch Is Dead"?
Happy Halloween,
Keri
PS. I'll be there!
At Microsoft's funeral that is.
Why?
Gotta make sure they stick it in the ground!
Wow for a dying brand that's pretty good
Windows + Office sales is NOT a long-term strategy.
Glad to see everyone upgraded from the Vista nightmare and that Enterprise sales were very profitable - which is really where MS belongs. In the office.
The fact that MS' old stand-bys were once again their main source of revenue is probably the most discouraging piece of news about MS in months. It's pretty sad. It's the good old upgrade cycle. Windows and Office. It's been Windows and Office for years now. Which is why they're so easily embarrassed in key forward-looking markets by a smaller, faster (MUCH faster) and more innovative competitor.
Apple has beaten MS in market cap. Apple has just beaten MS in revenue, first time ever (in one of Apple's traditionally weak quarters... Christmas is bigger.)
The above targets were somethings critics said COULD NEVER happen.
But it DID happen. Because the aging Office-Windows-Windows Server applications stack is declining in relevance before cloud-connected mobile devices.
Microsoft's major revenue streams today are pretty much what they were a decade ago: Office and Windows. If you compare this to Apple, in 2000 the Mac was Apple's major (and pretty much only) revenue stream. They then came to dominate several markets - mp3 players, digital music sales, mobile applications stores, succeeding wildly with smartphones and now media tablets. Microsoft's challenge moving into the next year is to expand into mobile in meaningful way (already late and offering nothing very special), mobile gaming, cloud services, etc.
The traditional PC is dying and MS has no answer to it. Cheap netbooks running a crippled version of Windows is not an answer. Trying to shove full Windows onto Microsoft's bad slate experiments is also not an answer.
In short, Apple has reinvented its business (successively) and profited, Microsoft has not.
MS has made little to no money from the consumer markets that matter the most today and which are the ones ready for explosive growth - the one's which Apple is already near-dominant in. In short, aside from what little they made from the Xbox, MS made all its money from the wrong things.
Apple is the one ushering in a New Age of computing. MS is not. OS X Lion brings iOS to the Mac as well as an entirely new software distribution channel for "computers." Apple is blurring the lines between the "computer" and the touch-enabled mobile device. OS X Lion will redefine the "operating system" as we know it (iOS already has, actually.) Think Macbook Air/iPad + OS X Lion + App Store is the future of "computing." MS is so far behind on this one it isn't even funny.
It's a sign of what's to come. MS can easily have a record quarter with Windows upgrades and Office sales - often sales by default, a nice chunk of that goes to the enterprise. This is what has always happened. And MS has in recent years *always* ended up paying dearly for it when it came to competing in markets that mattered (the one's Apple is in.) And it's caught up with them: it's a different ballgame when Apple outdoes them in revenue and leaves them in the dust in market cap.
The best news for MS would have been a decline due to lagging Windows sales. This might have awakened them to the reality that Apple is eating their lunch - not just today's, but tomorrow's as well. Instead the Licensing Cash Cow gives a little more milk (more like one last, big spurt before keeling over) and Ballmer proclaims publicly "The PC isn't dead!"
Yes Steve, it is. In two years you'll be gone, Windows Phone 7 (more like '07) having failed, and MS will be that much further in Apple's rear-view mirror. The sad part is you and your investors have (as usual) been lulled into thinking all is well after all. But it 'aint.
All of what you stated there was based off "Windows and Office were their only profit"
What you missed was xbox outsold all other platforms the last 4 months, more xbox love subscribers than comcast subscribers, kinect getting good press so far and pre sales sold out, and WP7 getting good reviews in it's infancy. When bringing that into the equation, one easily refutes your while post.
What you missed was xbox outsold all other platforms the last 4 months, more xbox love subscribers than comcast subscribers, kinect getting good press so far and pre sales sold out, and WP7 getting good reviews in it's infancy. When bringing that into the equation, one easily refutes your while post.
LTD did indeed mention xbox.
For a major corporation like MS, xbox profits are just a tiny, tiny drop in a very large bucket.
WP7 getting good reviews is suddenly going to turn MS around?
Are you serious?
A MOBILE PHONE OS is going to support MS?
Do you have any idea how microscopic profits are in the non-Apple part of the Mobile Phone business?
"Refuting a "whole" post" because of not mentioning two things that were discussed?
Sheesh! and they call ME a "Fangirl"!
Go Team Apple!
Keri
PS. Happy Halloween!
Honestly if MS wants to stay relevant in the future they need to targer college kids, who will be the next group making purchasing decisions for larger companies and running businesses. Most college kids either have or want macs.
My friend works at Penn State, he his a Mac hater and said that over 80% of the freshman hookups in dorms are all Mac. I didn't believe him at first but he kept on insisting on this number. He hates mac so I have every reason to believe him on this. (Not to mention take a trip around campus and you'll see macs everywhere.)
My friend works at Penn State, he his a Mac hater and said that over 80% of the freshman hookups in dorms are all Mac. I didn't believe him at first but he kept on insisting on this number. He hates mac so I have every reason to believe him on this. (Not to mention take a trip around campus and you'll see macs everywhere.)