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Why Is This Man Smiling? He Loves Microsoft.
Who loves Microsoft so much that reality is truly distorted? Guess. Bill Gates? I think you’d be wrong. The public hasn’t heard much from Bill Gates in the past two years, but we’ve heard plenty from his CEO successor. Microsoft’s head honcho, Steve Ballmer, is the ultimate cheerleader, despite the company’s ongoing woes. Woes? What could possibly be wrong with a company that has so much money, is so profitable, and has such a huge market share? Good question. Hundreds of millions of people worldwide use Microsoft’s products; from Windows to servers to developer tools to game boxes, and now music players. Do Microsoft’s customers carry the same passion and loyalty for the company’s products as Apple? That’s another good question. On the surface, I’d argue an unqualified “no” but if we add up all those worldwide who swear by Microsoft’s products, the numer may likely exceed all those who love Apple, the Mac, the iPod. See the problem? Success has different definitions.
Microsoft decided to counter Apple’s success in the portable music field with the no-quite-so-popular Zune; available in white, black, and brown. It can’t be that the company needs the money. It can’t be that the company needs even more bad press (the Zune has gathered plenty in just weeks). So, why does Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer smile so much? Why does he seem so supremely confident in public interviews? Good question. Maybe it’s easier to smile when you’re richer than God, and few men on the planet are richer than Steve Ballmer. ZDNet has an online interview with Ballmer regarding Windows Vista, the Zune player, and Microsoft in general. Ballmer’s answers to ZDNet questions do not indicate a Microsoft struggling to re-define itself. There’s the usual talk of resources, development, blah, blah, blah. Page 3 of the interview gets down to the nitty gritty. Apple. iPod. iPhone. Parts of the interview make it sound as if Microsoft sees a bigger market in cell phones than in PCs.
“Let’s say the PC market is roughly 200 million units these days, and let’s say the PC market goes great guns over the next several years and grows 14 percent or 15 percent a year. Those are big numbers. You go great guns, China booms. You get maybe over 400 million in a few years. The cell phone market is already a billion units a year, and the truth of the matter is that what I’ll call “smart devices,” as a percentage, the total is rising dramatically.”
So, there’s a market opportunity for Microsoft that dwarfs that of portable music players. Cell phones. Microsoft is already there. Apple is not. Does Ballmer think Apple can repeat iPod success in other markets? Does he think Microsoft can take on a resurging market leader in portable music? Will there be a Zune “halo effect?”
“Well, sure. I can’t say there is, yet. Eventually, there needs to be, will be. But we’ve got to get out and establish Zune. We think we have a great initial proposition, and we’re happy with the initial response. But we don’t fool ourselves. There’s a guy who’s got a lot of share, and we’re coming later in the day. Things boomed on the back of the iPod, so we have our work cut out.”
Hmmm. What’s wrong with this picture? Ballmer’s responses appear to be pragmatic, straightforward, reasonable. So, why is this man smiling? Off Topic Note: What is it about her Mac that caught Kate MacKenzie’s hair on fire? Somehow or another she fell out of love with her Mac and rushed into the arms of Windows Vista. Read the details about her American Tragedy. • Article by Natalia Nowak • Published on Wednesday, December 6, 2006
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