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CNN Money: Microsoft is a Dying Consumer Brand

money.cnn.com

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Re: CNN Money: Microsoft is a Dying Consumer Brand

#31

Post by DavidBishop »

mcknz wrote: post #6

CNN nails it again. Next up: Year of the Linux Desktop.

Actually, Apple is the one taking the consumer market. 1 in every 5 retail computer sales is a Mac. Best Buy's CEO recently said that 50% of their laptop sales have been cannibalized by the iPad - a 6 month old product. Apple is the #1 technology company on the planet by market cap and recently attained the 3rd place in computers by market share. Their stock price has grown over 2000% in 10 years.

Apple is the one poised to take over in the consumer market ... although the consumer market will be less and less about computers in the future.

Re: CNN Money: Microsoft is a Dying Consumer Brand

#32

Post by rubinelli »

cryptoz wrote: post #14
iterationx wrote: post #8

Microsoft can afford to fail many times before succeeding. It beat Lotus Notes, Borland C Compilers, Playstation, people continue to pay for Windows even though Linux is free. You don't measure what's going to happen in the future by taking a tiny slice of the present and projecting forwards.

> people continue to pay for Windows even though Linux is free 99% of that is only because Windows is available in stores and Linux typically is not. I think this will all change in about a month when Chrome OS comes out and is preinstalled on cheap computers in stores like Best Buy, Futureshop, or wherever people buy computers these days. Most consumers no longer care that they are running a specific OS; they want t…

In my experience, the first thing consumers ask once they turn on the computer is "Where's Word?" I think how well Chrome OS machines answer this question will make or break them.

Re: CNN Money: Microsoft is a Dying Consumer Brand

#33

Post by Tyrannosaurs »

scrrr wrote: post #18

Was Microsoft ever such a big brand? Google is, Apple is, Dell is, but with Microsoft it is more like many Brands: Windows, XBox, Zune.. I think the main things that people immediately associate with the actual word "Microsoft" might be mice and keyboards. But, (at least in my perception) they are slowly beginning to address the problem of decreasing user numbers. See their marketing at "Colbert Report" and, recently…

As of October 2009, Microsoft Windows had a desktop market share of 91% (and that figure is probably still about 88% today).

Office makes that look a little weak with a market share of about 95%.

You are kidding that people think of them as a mouse and keyboard company aren't you?

Dell, one of your listed brands, by contrast have a market share of about 11.5%.

Re: CNN Money: Microsoft is a Dying Consumer Brand

#34

Post by cryptoz »

rubinelli wrote: post #32
cryptoz wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> people continue to pay for Windows even though Linux is free 99% of that is only because Windows is available in stores and Linux typically is not. I think this will all change in about a month when Chrome OS comes out and is preinstalled on cheap computers in stores like Best Buy, Futureshop, or wherever people buy computers these days. Most consumers no longer care that they are running a specific OS; they want t…

In my experience, the first thing consumers ask once they turn on the computer is "Where's Word?" I think how well Chrome OS machines answer this question will make or break them.

Chrome OS defaults to opening Office files with Office Live, whch is a pretty good answer I think.

Re: CNN Money: Microsoft is a Dying Consumer Brand

#35

Post by face »

points wrote: post #12
cryptoz wrote: post #3

I firmly believe that most of Microsoft's failings in the consumer market come from their fear of the World Wide Web. Microsoft does everything they can to hide their users from the real power of the web, since everyone - including Microsoft - knows that a ubiquitous Web means fewer sales of Windows and Office. Their logic in locking users to Windows-based experiences is old, tired, and not going to work anymore. Peo…

Agree. The fact the xBox gaming console has the power of a supercomputer, as evident from its fans and overheating problems, but doesn't even have a simple webbrowser is all the evidence we need. MS has never understood or indeed wanted the www to happen. They were able to hold back www development for 5 years+ with their IE6 shenanigans, but the cats out of the bag now.

An Xbox 360 has a 3.2GHz Xenon (three cores) and 512Mbs of ram [1]. Saying that it has the power of a supercomputer is a bit of a stretch (by about three orders of magnitude, #500 on the top500 list has five thousand cores [2]).

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xbox_360

[2] http://www.top500.org

* edit: formatting

Re: CNN Money: Microsoft is a Dying Consumer Brand

#36

Post by trustfundbaby »

scrrr wrote: post #18

Was Microsoft ever such a big brand? Google is, Apple is, Dell is, but with Microsoft it is more like many Brands: Windows, XBox, Zune.. I think the main things that people immediately associate with the actual word "Microsoft" might be mice and keyboards. But, (at least in my perception) they are slowly beginning to address the problem of decreasing user numbers. See their marketing at "Colbert Report" and, recently…

> Was Microsoft ever such a big brand?

umm ... yeah. they kinda were a big deal. There was a time where PC's used to be called 'Wintel' (Windows/Intel) machines because pretty much every PC made had Windows on it.

> I think the main things that people immediately associate with the actual word "Microsoft" might be mice and keyboards.

Wishful thinking ... although I think eventually this will happen. Between Microsoft Windows/Office/Exchange/Bing/Exchange/.NET/SQL Server ... Microsoft is still a big brand ... they're just a big brand going down the toilet.

Re: CNN Money: Microsoft is a Dying Consumer Brand

#37

Post by [deleted] »

Tyrannosaurs wrote: post #33
scrrr wrote: post #18

Was Microsoft ever such a big brand? Google is, Apple is, Dell is, but with Microsoft it is more like many Brands: Windows, XBox, Zune.. I think the main things that people immediately associate with the actual word "Microsoft" might be mice and keyboards. But, (at least in my perception) they are slowly beginning to address the problem of decreasing user numbers. See their marketing at "Colbert Report" and, recently…

As of October 2009, Microsoft Windows had a desktop market share of 91% (and that figure is probably still about 88% today). Office makes that look a little weak with a market share of about 95%. You are kidding that people think of them as a mouse and keyboard company aren't you? Dell, one of your listed brands, by contrast have a market share of about 11.5%.

[deleted]

Re: CNN Money: Microsoft is a Dying Consumer Brand

#38

Post by sanderjd »

SoftwareMaven wrote: post #24
alanthonyc wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They're also scared of phones. Check out their Phone 7 commercials. They appear to be catering to people who think people with phones are douchebags who walk around staring at their screen all day. I'm not sure how well this marketing strategy will work, because I am one of those douchebags, but it doesn't make me want to get one.

That was exactly what I thought about those commercials: "If you are the type who doesn't want a powerful smart phone, Windows Phone 7 is for you." Then again, it will be interesting to see if that resonates with a less technical market segment.

As a data point, I recently saw one of these with my girlfriend who is not super technical but not out of the loop either. The concept of rescuing us from our mobile screens resonated with her, but she was almost mad at the end to discover it wasn't a commercial for something involving real human interaction, but rather yet-another-mobile-screen-device. I wonder if they will end up angering both sides of the douchebags who spend all day looking at their phones debate.

Re: CNN Money: Microsoft is a Dying Consumer Brand

#39

Post by dstein »

I hope Microsoft keeps doing exactly what they're doing. Microsoft's bad reputation is very much deserved. The web, and the world, is going to be a lot better off without this company.

Windows, MS Office, and Internet Explorer are examples of what happens when Microsoft wins markets. They let their products languish, make no improvements whatsoever in decade, while repainting the exterior and reselling it over and over again. Consumers have wised up, businesses are just slower to recognize when they're getting the raw end of a deal.

Re: CNN Money: Microsoft is a Dying Consumer Brand

#40

Post by aboodman »

recoiledsnake wrote: post #19
alanthonyc wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They're also scared of phones. Check out their Phone 7 commercials. They appear to be catering to people who think people with phones are douchebags who walk around staring at their screen all day. I'm not sure how well this marketing strategy will work, because I am one of those douchebags, but it doesn't make me want to get one.

The message I got from the ad is that Windows Phone 7 would allow you to see if you had any updates on the homescreen itself, obviating the need for fiddling with the phone for a long time to access the same information.

That is the fundamental and sad misunderstanding of this ad.

People don't fiddle with their phones while walking because the phones are hard to use. They fiddle because the phone is fun and addicting.

There's no desire for a phone that lets you get in and out quickly. On the contrary. If they could come up with a phone that lets you be online all the time without walking into things, they'd have a huge winner.

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