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Is Microsoft in trouble?

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Re: Is Microsoft in trouble?

#41

Post by aresant »

brown9-2 wrote: post #31
aresant wrote: post #14

What? a) XBOX usage destroys Wii in usage, games purchased, and subscription fees all of which are better indicators of the platform' success than hardware units sold which are traditionally a loss leader. And oh yah, XBOX is wildy profitable. Meanwhile Wii sales are down 45% since last September! b) They are JUST launching their mobile platform which has gotten fair to begrundgingly good reviews and is opening in 30…

They are JUST launching their mobile platform "Just launching"? It's the seventh iteration of the OS. It's in the name.

Fair - I should have said just launchng their contemporary OS

Re: Is Microsoft in trouble?

#42

Post by mattmaroon »

aresant wrote: post #14

What? a) XBOX usage destroys Wii in usage, games purchased, and subscription fees all of which are better indicators of the platform' success than hardware units sold which are traditionally a loss leader. And oh yah, XBOX is wildy profitable. Meanwhile Wii sales are down 45% since last September! b) They are JUST launching their mobile platform which has gotten fair to begrundgingly good reviews and is opening in 30…

I do cringe every time I see someone talk about how the Wii is beating the Xbox. Console sales are only part of the battle, and not the big part.

People buy a Wii, play Wii sports and maybe another couple games for a few weeks, and then it collects dust. Xbox owners subscribe to Xbox live and buy new games quite frequently.

Re: Is Microsoft in trouble?

#43

Post by kenjackson »

rbanffy wrote: post #15
kenjackson wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They are. Sharepoint in particular has been a surprise breakout hit. But even SQL Server has done very well and their recent BI push has been a pretty incredible success. Their online services, via BPOS, have also done very well. The issue is that in more consumer targeted areas MS is in trouble. But in the enterprise they're probably stronger now than in any time in recent memory.

> Sharepoint in particular has been a surprise breakout hit. Indeed. Tech historians will scratch their heads about that for generations. It's such a horrid product to use that one can only wonder how bad its competition is.

We disagree about a lot, but this is one thing that I do agree with. On both counts... Sharepoint doesn't seem to be very good software. But the competition is even worse. If some bright YC company that gets enterprise could come and do stellar document management, they'd easily have a $100M company. With potential for a $1B+ company.

Re: Is Microsoft in trouble?

#44

Post by Keyframe »

mjfern wrote: post #16
potatolicious wrote: post #8

> "In video game consoles, the Xbox 360 is trailing far behind the Nintendo Wii in market share, despite the fact that the Wii is using older generation technology (VGChartz, 2010)." I was with them until here. The Xbox 360 has claimed a gigantic share of the market starting from nothing just a few short years ago. Compared to Nintendo, whose sales of the Wii have slowed to a relative crawl, and whose mobile gaming m…

Good points, but let me offer a few counterpoints: - All three consoles started from nothing just a few short years ago, and in fact the XBox 360 had a year head start on the PS3 and the Wii (launching at the end of 2005 versus end of 2006 for the PS3 and Wii.) - According to VG Chartz, the Wii has sold 8.97 million consoles from Jan-Oct 2010, while the Xbox 360 has sold 6.8 million and the PS3 has sold 7.1 million.…

Ultimately, the Xbox 360, the PS3, and the Wii may be irrelevant given the emergence of connected televisions, thin devices, and cloud-based gaming.

This doesn't make sense. Why would they become irrelevant? I presume we're also talking about future generations of said consoles. Even if, by some magical miracle, computational needs of those consoles push onto the cloud (like Gaikai and OnLive), they'll still be a platform, and developers and publishers will still make games for them - and player will buy games for them because games are on those platforms.

Re: Is Microsoft in trouble?

#45

Post by naner »

They're obviously way too robust and have too much momentum to be in trouble any time soon.

That being said, visit any college campus and most people are using Apples. The younger generations are growing up with the perception that Microsoft is for old people in suits and Apple is creative and classy.

Re: Is Microsoft in trouble?

#46

Post by Keyframe »

jp wrote: post #11

So Microsoft is failing because Apple, Google and Nintendo is performing better in seperate markets ? What about the Nintendo Office Suite, the Apple SQL Server or the Google Zune ?

Nintendo Navision :) Microsoft is huge, I wonder what is the current breakdown of their income. Last from what I remember (2008-ish) was that Business & Office group was the largest percentage, followed by OS and then Server and Tools, Entertainment and devices, Online Services.

Re: Is Microsoft in trouble?

#47

Post by steveklabnik »

recoiledsnake wrote: post #38
mjfern wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To your points above: a) In Microsoft's 2010 fiscal year (which has ended), its Entertainment and Devices Division (which includes the Xbox 360) generated $8.5 billion in revenues and just $679 million in operating income. Considering Microsoft's consolidated operating income in 2010 was $24 billion, this $679 million only accounts for about 3% of Microsoft's profits. And in any event the Xbox 360, the PS3, and the W…

Regarding point a, the Entertainment and Devices division included Live, which they are heavily investing in, thus giving out a loss. The true profit of the XBox is much higher than $679 million. And what do you mean by 'Windows Phone 7 is not market ready, and it's already mid-October' ? They're launching in 2 days in Europe and in 3 weeks in the US. Also, from your linked article you write that Verizon won't be bri…

Doesn't Entertainment and Devices also include the Mac Business Unit, as well? Yep, apparently, it does: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macintosh_Business_Unit

Re: Is Microsoft in trouble?

#48

Post by hammerdr »

jaspero wrote: post #13
endtime wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Microsoft in the recent decade, has tried to indulge itself on different domains of IT. Obviously, it has failed on all of them, I thought Sharepoint and SQL Server were huge hits - no?

I am sorry if I was not clear enough, but my interpretation of other domains was music players, tablets,etc. I agree Sharepoint and SQL Server are huge hits and they are doing good in corporate applications.

So, what you're saying is that Microsoft has failed in all domains of IT where MS has failed?

Re: Is Microsoft in trouble?

#49

Post by patio11 »

aresant wrote: post #14

What? a) XBOX usage destroys Wii in usage, games purchased, and subscription fees all of which are better indicators of the platform' success than hardware units sold which are traditionally a loss leader. And oh yah, XBOX is wildy profitable. Meanwhile Wii sales are down 45% since last September! b) They are JUST launching their mobile platform which has gotten fair to begrundgingly good reviews and is opening in 30…

FYI, Nintendo does not typically sell hardware at a loss. While they don't get an automatic recurring component, just on the hardware, Wii margins approach Apple hardware margins.

Re: Is Microsoft in trouble?

#50

Post by benzheren »

I stayed in MS research for a little while. Their research department is really really strong and they have a lot of cool stuff. If they can better transfer them into products, things will be different.
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