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The Courier is Coming. Microsoft Event April 12th

Less than 20 years! 20 years is an eternity in this industry.
Making a prediction about a particular company 20 years from now is hopeless.

As for products - very few people thought Microsoft could beat Sony on its home turf with the Xbox, and they were right. The original version was seen as almost a niche player vs. the PS2. But the Xbox 360 has equaled or surpassed the PS3 in market share and user affection.

It's more interesting to ask what they've failed at. And I think in a meaningful way, it's two things. 1 - Vista (now replaced); 2 - Zune.

Apple had a string of failures in the late 90s. Dell was seriously thinking about buying the company and shutting it down. These things can be cyclical.
 
People tend to forget, or are unaware of the corporate market presence MS has, which continues to grow every day. Business systems running Windows Server/XP/Vista/7, SQL Server, Visual Studio and .NET Framework, Exchange, Office, System Center, etc., come up every day. Basically, businesses run on Microsoft products. Businesses are even switching from other technologies to Microsoft products as well. Developers are dumping Java-based applications, moving towards .NET and ASP.NET applications. Companies moving data from Oracle to MS SQL. To think Microsoft is on some sort of decline is just ignorant and/or short-sighted.
 
I personally hope that MS gets its butt back into gear. We don't want Apple getting lazy from lack of decent competition.

If the Courier turns out the way the mock-up vids say it is going to be, then I for one am going to buy it.
 
VenusianSky said:
People tend to forget, or are unaware of the corporate market presence MS has, which continues to grow every day. Business systems running Windows Server/XP/Vista/7, SQL Server, Visual Studio and .NET Framework, Exchange, Office, System Center, etc., come up every day. Basically, businesses run on Microsoft products. Businesses are even switching from other technologies to Microsoft products as well. Developers are dumping Java-based applications, moving towards .NET and ASP.NET applications. Companies moving data from Oracle to MS SQL. To think Microsoft is on some sort of decline is just ignorant and/or short-sighted.
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Investors disagree. MSFT has been up and down, but their stock has not shown any real growth for at least 5 years.

Compare AAPL and GOOG to MSFT.
 
Is this thread still going> The WSJ already said today that the April 12th event is about the new MS phones.

It's not about the Courier.
 
My company (household name large company) still uses Windows XP as the typical operating system, though some people get Macs depending on their job function or preference. I doubt that's rare. I think most of corporate America simply skipped Vista. I imagine 7 will be adopted at a much higher rate.

As for the thread - yes, this event seems to be unrelated to the Courier - but the Courier is still an item of natural interest on an iPad board. Maybe there should be one consolidated Courier thread and one consolidated HP slate thread.
 
shakenmartini said:
Investors disagree. MSFT has been up and down, but their stock has not shown any real growth for at least 5 years.

Compare AAPL and GOOG to MSFT.
Click to expand...

Which investors disagree and how much do you know about stocks? In this discussion, stock price comparison to Apple and Google is completely irrelevant. Just because a stock doesn't shoot up in a relatively short period of time doesn't mean it isn't a good stock to own. Microsoft is considered to be a blue chip stock. It is a safe stock and Microsoft pays quarterly dividends to investors. GOOG and AAPL are relatively safe investments, but compared to MSFT, both are higher risk, relatively speaking.
 
wombat888 said:
My company (household name large company) still uses Windows XP as the typical operating system, though some people get Macs depending on their job function or preference. I doubt that's rare. I think most of corporate America simply skipped Vista. I imagine 7 will be adopted at a much higher rate.

As for the thread - yes, this event seems to be unrelated to the Courier - but the Courier is still an item of natural interest on an iPad board. Maybe there should be one consolidated Courier thread and one consolidated HP slate thread.
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My company primarily uses XP as well. I figure it's because the programs they're running now work just fine and they don't see any justification in spending more money on new software and hardware.
 
Ok I agree on the Xbox, but I don't consider Win 7 a success for the same reason I stated earlier. People don't have a real choice when it comes to OSes(for home purposes).

What I was trying to say that home computing has a more real Market now.

More platforms, more OSes, more choices for developers AND users.
 
Chwisch87 said:
Microsoft is going to be late to ever single party until they fire Steve Ballmer. They company has become a total mess under his leadership and the stock price is completely stagnant.

Apple has created an ecosystem is which both developers and consumers are controled with the content they distribute and consumer respectively; every monetary transaction nets them 30% too.

If I was a microsoft shareholder right now ... Where is Carl Icahn when you need him lol..
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I wholeheartedly agree Steve Balmer is a complete mutt and totally clueless as to what the market needs and wants. The biggest mistake he made was laughing at Jobs and the whole iPhone concept,and it bit him in the ass.
 
And this just came to my mind:

How come a company that has always focused on the software came out with the xbox and got successful? Maybe because for once they are not putting their hands on the software? They sold a good platform, but the games are made by other developers.
 
I don't know why people look at stock prices to determine the how well the company is doing. I guess it is a misunderstanding of stocks, the market and the businesses. Stock prices can be misleading. For one, Wall Street has much influence on stock prices. Yes, the value is typically affected by the company's products and services, but there is much more involved than simply that. Stocks that don't move much over a long period, or better yet, only move with the entire market, are not necessarily bad stocks. These are sometimes blue chip stocks. Blue chip stocks typically pay out dividends to the investors and are mostly safe long-term investments. Because of that, the investment value is actually greater than the market price per share. Dividends are a fixed value per share that is payed out to investors. The value is determined by company profits. Typically the investor will reinvest the dividends into more shares.
 
VenusianSky said:
Which investors disagree and how much do you know about stocks? In this discussion, stock price comparison to Apple and Google is completely irrelevant. Just because a stock doesn't shoot up in a relatively short period of time doesn't mean it isn't a good stock to own. Microsoft is considered to be a blue chip stock. It is a safe stock and Microsoft pays quarterly dividends to investors. GOOG and AAPL are relatively safe investments, but compared to MSFT, both are higher risk, relatively speaking.
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You said

To think Microsoft is on some sort of decline is just ignorant and/or short-sighted.
Click to expand...

MS would be considered on the decline because investors do not believe in ability of MS to return sustained growth. For example, their cash reserves are going down and they have had 5 years with little to no growth is stock price. The market cap of Apple and MS are nearly the same and MS is significantly larger than Apple.

Windows XP, which is what 9 years old now, is still the most popular OS in the world, they just knee capped their smartphone OS, which had a significant market share just a few years ago. One of MSs most profitable business unit is the MacBU, which makes software for another companies OS and hardware platform.

MSs only bright spots are Xbox 360, but IIRC, this business unit is still really far into the red despite its success.

MS office continues to be a solid earner, but growth potential in the office software market is not what is used to be, especially in light of cloud computing services such as Google docs

MS server offerings continue to be a bright spot, but are showing increased competition from cloud and open source vendors. MSs biggest growth potential is in their small business "server in a box" offerings.

I'm not saying MS can't grow in the future, but they sure are making it hard for themselves.
 
shakenmartini said:
You said



MS would be considered on the decline because investors do not believe in ability of MS to return sustained growth. For example, their cash reserves are going down and they have had 5 years with little to no growth is stock price. The market cap of Apple and MS are nearly the same and MS is significantly larger than Apple.

Windows XP, which is what 9 years old now, is still the most popular OS in the world, they just knee capped their smartphone OS, which had a significant market share just a few years ago. One of MSs most profitable business unit is the MacBU, which makes software for another companies OS and hardware platform.

MSs only bright spots are Xbox 360, but IIRC, this business unit is still really far into the red despite its success.

MS office continues to be a solid earner, but growth potential in the office software market is not what is used to be, especially in light of cloud computing services such as Google docs

MS server offerings continue to be a bright spot, but are showing increased competition from cloud and open source vendors. MSs biggest growth potential is in their small business "server in a box" offerings.

I'm not saying MS can't grow in the future, but they sure are making it hard for themselves.
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First off, read my other post regarding stock prices. Share prices are misleading. That was my point. Microsoft pays dividends. Apple and Google do not. That changes the actual investment value per share. When you pay out dividends every quarter, your stock price isn't going to move much. The company does this in expectations that the investor buys more shares. Do some research about companies that pay stock dividends versus companies that do not.

Second, many people (well here) only see Microsoft as a business competitor to Apple with their Windows desktop OS for home users and sellers of Microsoft Office. The fact of the matter is Microsoft's biggest business is the corporate market, which they completely dominate in as a software company. Businesses spends beaucoup bucks in Microsoft licesning a year. That includes Windows desktop licenses, Server CALs and copies of Microsoft Office.

You keep on going on about investor opinions. Please name these investors. Chances are if you have a 401k or mutual fund with a major firm, you probably "own" shares of Microsoft. The stock market is more than just share prices.
 
I agree with your point about Microsoft's fundamental strength. But I also agree that other than the Xbox, Microsoft has been in the doldrums from a consumer perspective for a while. From a public perception perspective among gadget fans (if you care about that), Microsoft could use a win.

The Courier could be it. I doubt very much that Pink will be.
 
VenusianSky said:
You keep on going on about investor opinions. Please name these investors. Chances are if you have a 401k or mutual fund with a major firm, you probably "own" shares of Microsoft. The stock market is more than just share prices.
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Investor sentiment is reflected in price, I don't need to call any of them up and ask, I just pull up my stock price chart. If investors think MS will grow, the price will go up. You can make up all the excuses in the world, but in general market history is a good sign of how a company did during that period. The fact that the stock price has not grown AND they pay a dividend is a very very very bad sign. Cash reserves going down and being invested into money losing projects like Xbox 360 are even worse signs.

I know, I have a lot of MSFT stock. While a lot of my other stocks have doubled or tripled in the last 5 years, I can barely even make my money back after taxes and fees if I sell my MSFT stock purchased 5 years ago. The only MSFT stock I've made money off of is the stuff I bought when the economy hit rock bottom and I went all in into some safe stocks. MSFT was my hedge that did pay off, but I sold most of it a few months ago, because the long term growth potential is back right where we were a few years ago.
 
racer1441 said:
Microsoft- late to the party and slow on the uptake.

"Microsoft, we're cruising on past success since 2003."
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This. Microsoft has been garbage since XP. Only recently has the xbox 360 even become viable. It only took them what...five years to make one that doesn't burn out after a couple months?

The Zune bombed, and everyone knows it.

Vista was godawful. And everyone knows it.

Windows 7 is vista in a new shell. And everyone knows it.

Their customer support is terrible, their products are low quality, and they simply have no creativity.

I can't wait for the day that they announce bankruptcy.
 
shakenmartini said:
Investor sentiment is reflected in price, I don't need to call any of them up and ask, I just pull up my stock price chart. If investors think MS will grow, the price will go up. You can make up all the excuses in the world, but in general market history is a good sign of how a company did during that period. The fact that the stock price has not grown AND they pay a dividend is a very very very bad sign. Cash reserves going down and being invested into money losing projects like Xbox 360 are even worse signs.

I know, I have a lot of MSFT stock. While a lot of my other stocks have doubled or tripled in the last 5 years, I can barely even make my money back after taxes and fees if I sell my MSFT stock purchased 5 years ago. The only MSFT stock I've made money off of is the stuff I bought when the economy hit rock bottom and I went all in into some safe stocks. MSFT was my hedge that did pay off, but I sold most of it a few months ago, because the long term growth potential is back right where we were a few years ago.
Click to expand...

Well, for your case, you live and learn. It seems you didn't have a good understanding of what you were buying when you decided to purchase MSFT. MSFT is a long-term stock that you invest in for the dividends. It is a safe, low risk, low return personal stock. If you were hoping the share value to double or tripe in a matter of 5 years, you were mistaken. These types of stocks don't do that.
 
In general I can't stand MS products, but I do know a lot of people who seem happy with Windows 7, it does seem like it's a significant improvement for them. That said, I have almost zero confidence they can pull off a smooth version of this Courier device, if it ever sees the light of day. They are way, way behind in the mobile space.
 
Courier looks full of fail to me, im not a journalist nor do the things in the vid they show
 
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