[Microsoft's] Middle-aged myopia
,----[ Quote ]
| Ubuntu, a free Linux operating system and the brainchild of South African
| Mark Shuttleworth, is now the equal of Windows in many ways. It offers the
| eye candy that adorns Microsoft's new operating system, Vista, and it is
| stable and easy to use.
|
| [...]
|
| The only areas where it dominates are Windows and Office (as ever)
| and they are under sustained assault from Linux and OpenOffice.org,
| a free office suite. Office is still best-in-class but most people's
| basic office productivity needs could soon shift to the Web anyway,
| making both Office and OpenOffice.org less relevant.
|
| In other areas, Microsoft's efforts are not meeting with a lot of
| success, with the possible exception of the Xbox. But with the
| Xbox, Microsoft has backed HD-DVD over Sony's Blu-ray as the
| next-generation, high-definition video playback format. Blu-ray
| looks set to win the standards war and Microsoft may have to
| concede defeat within the year by selling a Blu-ray player for
| the Xbox.
|
| Then there's Microsoft's cellphone software business, which is
| performing poorly. The largest cellphone handset manufacturers
| don't trust it and are largely shunning it in favour of Symbian
| and Linux, worried that Microsoft wants to turn them into little
| more than low-margin hardware manufacturers.
|
| Microsoft is unable to use its Windows monopoly to force itself
| into new business areas as it did when it won the browser wars.
| Says Rethink Research: "The one thing [Microsoft] cannot
| continue to do is let itself be run by marketing and continue
| to repeat the bundling tricks of previous technology generations."
`----
http://www.mybroadband.co.za/nephp/?m=show&id=6318
More Linux servers and more remote services:
Google's country-fried data center
,----[ Quote ]
| Google confirmed the deaths of more penguins this week by admitting
| to a mega data center in Oklahoma.
`----
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/05/05/google_sun_rackable/
Related:
Software Notebook: Microsoft's cash pile isn't what it used to be
,----[ Quote ]
| But Microsoft has taken a series of steps to reduce its cash
| balance. Specifically, by Microsoft's count, the company has
| paid out nearly $100 billion through dividends and repurchasing
| its own stock in the past five years.
`----
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/309852_software02.html
Loot: Redmond, We Have a Problem, Or, What's Wrong With the Xbox 360
,----[ Quote ]
| At this point, Former becomes impassioned. That's not fair, he says;
| we always saw this as a long-term venture. To which we reply that we
| were talking about the original Xbox, and while other divisions of
| the company throw off more profits in a single quarter than the
| entire $5 billion or so lost in the home and entertainment division
| to date, the fact remains that, as we take-our-word-for-it predicted,
| the Xbox group has been spectacularly unprofitable for Microsoft.
| Hence, our heretofore unpublished Vietnam analogy. The rest of the
| night is a blur, but we digress.
|
| [...]
|
| The worst case scenario for Microsoft, then, is one in which the Xbox
| 360's bid for the mass market is blocked by the Wii for the next two to
| three years, at which point the aging and underpowered Wii gives way
| to a cheaper-than-it-is-now PS3 with a selection of AAA titles that's
| far wider than what the PS3 has at the moment; new installments of
| Playstation's own popular and casual-leaning games; and a slew of
| new franchises from Sony's much-larger studio operation.
`----
http://ncroal.talk.newsweek.com/default.asp?item=533168
The Secret Failures of Microsoft
,----[ Quote ]
| There is no choice involved; even most Linux users are forced to pay for a
| Microsoft license in order to obtain a brand name PC.
|
| [...]
|
| They are bound to an oath to swear allegiance to Windows XP Professional,
| and must never mention Linux and Windows in the same breath. If they step
| out of line in any way, Microsoft dramatically raises their OEM licensing
| fees and sends them to indoctrination camp, where they face chairs being
| hurled at them by angry monkeys.
|
| [...]
|
| Why do Windows enthusiasts exibit much hostility to an obvious fact?
| Because if they admit that 80% of the company's revenues come entirely
| from an OEM tax, and not from any choice on the part of consumers...
|
| [...]
|
| Microsoft's decade of investments in WinCE and Windows Mobile
| Smartphones have only barely matched the market share of Palm, which
| itself is a run down company out of ideas. Microsoft couldn't
| out-maneuver the incompetent Palm within a decade of trying; now both
| are ineffectually fighting over the dying PDA industry while Linux and
| Symbian slaughter them in the smartphone arena:
|
| Symbian 75%; Linux 14%; Microsoft 5%; Palm 5%.
|
| [...]
|
| (many more failures listed)
`----
http://www.roughlydrafted.com/RD/Q4.06/2E6D9BB2-FE1B-4556-8389-67BD581FBCCC.html
How Much is Too Much?
,----[ Summary ]
| Microsoft says it will stick with Xbox. But with years of heavy losses
| behind it, the pressure's on for the gaming division to make good
`----
http://www.businessweek.com/innovate/content/oct2006/id20061013_283856.htm?campaign_id=rss_topStories
http://tinyurl.com/yxdr4j
Microsoft stoic despite massive losses
,----[ Quote ]
| If you were to judge by the PR rhetoric, you'd think the 360 was
| an unstoppable commercial juggernaut. As usual though, PR lies.
`----
http://www.gamerscan.com/articles/06/10/09/microsofts.massive.losses/
Microsoft Hides Its Mobile and Business Apps Divisions
,----[ Quote ]
| The company is folding its two worst-performing divisions -- Microsoft
| Business Solutions (its business applications unit) and its Mobile and
| Embedded units -- into the Microsoft Business Division and Microsoft Home
| and Entertainment units, respectively.
`----
http://www.microsoft-watch.com/article2/0,1995,1990243,00.asp?kc=MWRSS02129TX1K0000535
A Dozen Stocks For '07
,----[ Quote ]
| Millen also thinks $36 billion in planned share buybacks
| will help the stock.
`----
http://www.forbes.com/2006/12/05/stocks-markets-investing-pf-ii-cz_ag_1205stockpicks.html?partner=yahootix
http://tinyurl.com/yjzfbo
Microsoft counts on Vista to recharge stagnant stock
,----[ Quote ]
| There was a time in the 1990s when shares of Microsoft stock seemed to
| double every couple of years. 1996: college for the kids. 1998: a place
| on Whidbey. 1999: early retirement.
|
| Times have changed.
`----
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2003437957_vista19.html
Commentary: Microsoft needs more than just buybacks to lift its shares
,----[ Quote ]
| Microsoft shares, which have been dormant for the last few years,
| have been looking up over the last couple months. The Dow industrials
| component has gained about 20% since hitting a 4-year low of $21.46 o
| June 13.
|
| To help move things along, Microsoft not only launched a $40 billion
| stock repurchase program that lasts through 2011, the company also said
| its previously announced 4-year, $30 billion stock buyback program was
| completed in just 2 years.
`----
http://www.marketwatch.com/News/Story/Story.aspx?guid=%7B685EFB89%2D5791%2D4E8B%2DAD6A%2D9688F5B6012A%7D&source=blq%2Fyhoo&dist=yhoo&siteid=yhoo
Microsoft's Record Quarter: Shareholders Paid for Most of the Upside Surprise
,----[ Quote ]
| Actually, there is room to complain. See, those earnings were great,
| but they came at a cost. Shareholders paid for most of the upside
| surprise, not customers. I'll describe why I think this in a minute.
|
| Before I describe the analysis, let me ask the following question:
| if Microsoft's record earnings were so great, why isn't Microsoft's
| stock moving? After all, the period we're talking about included
| Microsoft's biggest launches in the last five years, Windows Vista
| and Office 2007. These are supposed to be the engines of growth for
| years to come. And if earnings are up, the stock should be too.
| What is wrong with those Wall Street people?
`----
http://biz.yahoo.com/seekingalpha/070503/34354_id.html?.v=1
Microsoft Refuses to Reveal Current Vista Sales
,----[ Quote ]
| Microsoft on Thursday reported a 65 percent jump in third quarter profits,
| buoyed by sales of its latest operating system, Vista.
|
| Exactly how many Microsoft has sold, however, is still a mystery.
|
| [...]
|
| Liddell declined to provide exact numbers on how many units of Vista
| the company had sold.
`----
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,2122837,00.asp
Rumor: Is Microsoft cheating their [Xbox 360] sales?
,----[ Quote ]
| All in all, there are some sobering thoughts with very broad implications
| for any company if that were true. That being said, would you buy
| from Microsoft, or any other company for that matter, if they were
| cheating their sales?
`----
http://xbox360.qj.net/Rumor-Is-Microsoft-cheating-their-sales-/pg/49/aid/89595
Uh-Oh, Vista! PC Sales Levels Are Normal
,----[ Quote ]
| "Vista hasn't been a catalyst for PC sales," he said. "Looking at the
| weekly data, there really isn't anything happening with sales that
| has anything to do with Vista."
`----
http://www.microsoft-watch.com/content/vista/oh_oh_vista_pc_sales_levels_are_normal.html
,----[ Quote ]
| "This is a relic of old-line consumer products companies like Philip
| Morris, or fraudsters like Miniscribe who literally shipped bricks in
| lieu of disk drives to hit sales targets.
|
| [...]
|
| Channel stuffing is the business practice where a company or a sales
| force within a company inflates its sales figures by forcing more
| products through a distribution channel than the channel is capable
| of selling to the world at large.
|
| [...]
|
| We have a game we play around the office here with Microsoft press
| releases. The game is, "Find the words that make the headline true."
| It's not always easy.
|
| [...]
|
| Sony, like Microsoft, announces units shipped, not actually sold.
| This allows both companies to advertise sales numbers based on how
| many units they can force retailers to accept, not on how many units
| customers actually buy; both have considerable market power to push
| excess unsold inventory into the channel."
`----
http://www.informationarbitrage.com/2007/04/microsoft_phili.html
|
|
