Is the party over for Microsoft?

John Dvorak writes: Everyone knew the day would come when the fortunes of Microsoft Corp. would reverse. The company might now be in actual decline.

[Greywulf]

"Let me restate it. Microsoft is a software company. It has been distracted too easily by the success of others in essentially unrelated fields. Here are but a few examples (and there are dozens more):

*

Years ago in the pre-Internet era, AOL was the talk of the town, so Microsoft had to copy it with MSN. No money was made; no strategic advantage was gained.
*

Netscape was the rage for a while, so Microsoft threw together a browser and got in that business. The browser was given away for free. No money was made; the strategy got the company in trouble with government trustbusters.
*

During the early days of the Internet, new online publications appeared. Microsoft decided to become a publisher too, rolling out a slew of online properties including a computer magazine and a women's magazine. They were all folded.
*

Computer books became popular; Microsoft began Microsoft Press. After an early splash and success, the company soon lost interest and the division now languishes.
*
Oh this is not going to end well. This goes beyond competition by adding good features. This is just a clear lack of focused direction.

Did this guy really go over Teddy Ruxpin too?

[mastiffchild]

Well, I guess if you think about it pretty much every company does go through a crisis eventually but I just don't see the problem here. We're in a major economic mess and many, many companies both smaller and of a similar soze to MS have been in real trouble and recovered OK so prtending doom for MS seems very premature, if not completely groundless right now.

So, yeah, it could happen but I can't see why it would in the near future.

[Tony P]

Yeah, I guess it's time for the "MS is doomed" articles for a brief switch.

Carry on, N4G...

[mint royale]

however there are just enough haters around to prey on anything they can.

[GiantEnemyCrab]

Yes he did but of course didn't bother with what could be considered their successes.

Xbox
Xbox Live
SQL
Exchange
Visual development tools

I can name other companies that have many failed attempts at new tech/ideas.

MS has many failures but the party is far from over. Bing is catching on, Google is getting the DoJ/EU treatment now(they are on to the next big wallet), Windows 7 has plenty of good buzz and it looks like it's living up to it and Xbox has been gaining in market share.

[DMason]

What does this have to do with gaming? I understand that Microsoft makes consoles and software for gaming, but this article isn't related to either of these.

This seems like a desperate attempt to drag names through the mud, and start a flamewar.

Also, this is pure speculation.

[zag]

It's about share prices and MS used to be $30+ at the start of the year now it's less than $15 a share.

lose value in shares
people don't buy your shares
no one owning shares means you lose base money to work with.

For the last 20 years MS has been spending moiney on usless stuff like wasting billions to sell the Xbox that failed then billions more to sell the 360 whether it's a fail or not who knows.

Share holders though are getting fed up with the money wasting and some want the current CEO gone, change of CEO would probably mean a direct change in products etc.

For example if the entertainment div really isn;t making then it gets shut down so anything in that Div won't exist.

Does MS really need to be selling consoles and ipod rip offs no I don't think so when their base income is really OS and Office software so share holders will be looking at that stuff as a waste of money as it's not increasing the share price but killing it.

[Maddens Raiders]

As much as I love SNE; we're all in trouble if the "party" is really over for MS. Think about it.

[Godmars290]

Why? If the party is over for MS, another OS/software company will take its place. Several, as it should have been in the first place.

Trouble is, if MS is indeed going down, as a company that already can't play on a level playing field, its going to go down kicking and screaming.

[rockleex]

We're all doomed.

Only Nintendo and their casual games will survive! :(

2012 can't come fast enough. ^_~

[IdleLeeSiuLung]

There is a long list of things gone bad, but then there is a long list of things gone right (albeit shorter). I still prefer a company that tries and then suceeds at a few things as opposed to a company that doesn't at all.

Seeing how MS is so full of cash they are giving a dividend, what else are they going to do with the money, but try new business models?

If you read about MS, you will find out that IE didn't come about just to get into the latest hot thing, but to secure Windows.

[II Necroplasm II]

The party is over for everyone!

The End of Days is Near!

[Ridrick]

how did you come up with SQL being Microsoft's success ??

"During the 1970s, a group at IBM San Jose Research Laboratory developed the System R relational database management system. Donald D. Chamberlin and Raymond F. Boyce of IBM subsequently created the Structured English Query Language (SEQUEL or SEQL) to manage data stored in System R.[6] The acronym SEQUEL was later changed to SQL because "SEQUEL" was a trademark of the UK-based Hawker Siddeley aircraft company"
-Wiki

[Death]

Where are you getting your stock information from? Microsoft stock peaked at 36.81 in October of '07. http://moneycentral.msn.com...

In January of this year they were closing at 19.52. After the release of their financials their stock dipped to 23.45 from their '09 high of 24.29 which was established 1 week earlier. The stock market is still off by about 30% from the drop experienced in the last 18 months. Microsoft stock is inline with this drop like most companies.

This isn't a knock at Sony, but to give you an idea how Microsofts closest competitor in the gaming market has done, they closed at 55.00 in Dec. '07 and are sitting at 25.45 today. They have underperformed by losing over half their value while the market is closer to that 30% drop. http://moneycentral.msn.com...

This is over simplified and more factors go into stock value than you would think. To say Microsoft is on a decline in todays economy is just silly since all companies are down. If the economy was at a high today and Microsoft stock was declining, then this article might have some sort of point. To write this piece today is simply ignorant since Microsoft isn't the exception to the norm.

-Death

[markbob]

Im sorry to tell that MS's stock price never dropped to $15 a share it at $23 right now.

And while MS profit are declining they still earned 13.1 billion dollars last quarter.

Share holders are not getting fed up with what MS is doing, where did you pull that out of. Also MS entertainment Div has actually been making money.

Even though their profits are decreasing, a large number of companies are having that problem, MS is still making money and alot of it.

[edgeofblade]

What Dvorak seems to miss... on a consistent basis... is he under-rates the intelligence in a given enterprise. It makes for "good" press. I know it's popular to paint Microsoft as an know-nothing dinosaur... but I would challenge you to do some of the feats they have accomplished.

Who is to say Microsoft, a corporation with shareholders, doesn't look at the revenues of their cash cows and decides, "Hey, lets go make some new cash cows." When their original cash cows dry up, we have no idea what they will do next. But to imply they would throw their hands up in panic and helplessness... way to miss the point of business.

We should be thankful that Microsoft has tried out so many directions. We are NOT shareholders. We are the customers, and we should be happy with this kind of experimentation. It would be NICE if some of those projects stuck with more reliablity, but wouldn't that make a bigger Microsoft?

And to take the earlier explored thought to completion, I'm sure the shareholders would have appreciated the cash more than the failed experimentation... but that's the risk you run.

Furthermore, these gloom-and-doom articles for MS are good, but when someone lambastes Sony's management, it's just another flamebait article?

[jmare]

Since I can't comment in the gamer zone. This article is going to get slammed by retarded fanboys arguing back and forth to no avail.

[keysy420]

sony has parts of its company that are profitable. and their games division is one of them

[-MD-]

"sony has parts of its company that are profitable."

Microsoft is a far more profitable company.

[evilmonkey501]

I knew it....cant we leave Sony out of this one? They aren't even mentioned in the article.

Funny though, a couple of my mutual funds recently dropped Microsoft.
Some seem to think that they wont be posting profit consistently in the future. They were pretty stable for a long time....then gates left and we all know how business changes. Look at Disney for another example.
Sometimes it really is the people behind the Driver's seat.

[Etseix]

indeed, my friend, Sony never safes from being mentioned on any article.

[El Botto]

Yes, it is shiatbots. Suck on that.

The author of the article forgot to mention the XBOX 360, another "brilliant" adventure for MS. Dont forget that they are still 9 billion in red ink and that they will never earn that money back. So essentially thats cash flushed down the drain.

Brilliant move.

[Sir Ken_Kutaragi]

This is 'Top 3' News now??? Are the Mod's on Holiday??? ;-D

If Micro$oft did do a Party it would be the MOST BORING Party in the World!!! ;-D

[DoctorXpro]

Microsoft has been in worst whit xbox 1 but they didn't give up from games/consoles.

[Mr_iClu7ch]

Thats it.

[Chubear]

... you didn't try to make sense did you? O.o

[zag]

Ah you might want to re think that...

MS only got started in the 70's so it's only 30-40 years old

Sony got started in 1910 1920 maybe before that, so it's been around almost 100 years.

[II Necroplasm II]

He's gotta be right though about Microosft.

[Elven6]

The problem is the future of the company is bright, Xbox Live alone is set to bring in a billion dollars of revenue annually by 2012, the Xbox division is turning a profit and all loss should be made back, Zune and Zune store is slowly growing (probably not a iPod killer but a huge contender in the field), and early press on Windows 7 is really positive.

[Carl1412]

Zune is doing well? I must admit i am yet to even see one in a shop anywhere, and i know noone that owns one.

I must be the exception

[blahblah123]

MS is the GM of tech land. And GM went from being the biggest automaker to bankrupt.

By any measure the Zune is a complete failure. How many billions did Microsoft sink on the Xbox division before it finally turned a profit? MS makes products that never really work right.

Wow what a solid foundation for the company. The article points out the obvious. MS has weak foundations.

[gaffyh]

@Elven - That just sounds like made up BS. I own a Zune, I had to import it to UK, because MS is to stupid to sell the product over here, and it's great.

BUT Zune isn't meant to have made any profit since it was released, hopefully things turn around for them with Zune HD, but iPod is too huge of a competitor for them to even make a dent.

[edgeofblade]

Zune is about to kill my iPod. I have a 5th gen video iPod, and it's showing quite a bit of age. Once the Zune HD hits the market, that sucker is mine. I have a phone that works just fine and all I need is a better music player. Zune HD's radio tipped the scales from iPod to Zune for me. Plus, that $15 all you can eat music deal is quite enticing.

[viking805fan]

He's got a point though...but its up to the big dogs and all their decisions.

[iHEARTboobs]

haha, I use to have a Teddy Ruxpin. Someone gave it to me as a gift, of course. ;)

Their party isn't over yet though. As long as they have windows there will always be another party.

[OtherWhiteMeat]

Is it me or is there an overabundance of Microsoft news today????

[Tony P]

It's because of the posted loss. Blood in the water. Etc.

[TRIPLEPLAY]

M$ got a bad fourtune in its coockie didnt it

[ukilnme]

So how is $ony doing?

[Carl1412]

^ Sony uses dollars now? If anything you should make the "Y" into a Yen symbol

[The Wood]

I just wish there was a doom of 'doomed' articles if that makes any sense

[Gamer_Z]

heck no, after party!

[keysy420]

just another venture that isnt proving to be profitable either

[cmrbe]

This is the first MS doom article i have seen. Interesting read. I didn't know MS tried this much to dominate other bussiness without much success.

I think the problem is MS is mostly a software based company. They should stick mostly to stoftware based business.

[memots]

good article

[TheMART]

Meh meh and meh

Seen Windows 7 will be bought massive again after no one wanted Vista really, MS has its cash cow ready already again.

In other markets upcoming, they beat Sony in the real console race and outselling them. Making money on XBOX, while Sony only taking losses. So?

EDIT

@ the guy below, could you give the links to those salesnumbers you're spitting out there? The PS3 gets outsold by the 360 since around Fall 2008 and you're making up some numbers there dude....

[zag]

This is more about share price and it's dropping... really this isn't a gaming news site item so why it's here I don't know.

Win7 is ok, but it's quickly becoming another Vista which is a shame as the beta was really great but the RC1 isn't as great.

Sony sold 480,000 console units in June higher than any other company.

I don't think they are overly fussed about MS only selling 164,000 units for June.

remember this is business not 1 item product lines.

[KingKionic]

huh?

Win 7 is just ok ?

[mint royale]

has forgotten Nintendo and so what his comment really means is that Microsoft was the only company Sony despite being the only one with 3 pieces of hardware on the market.

[Pizzagaki]

As long as MS doesnt charge for service packs, they cant be as bad as for example, apple......

Why does everybody love apple anyway, they overcharge their products, and they ask money for service packs....
Only apple product i own is an iphone, and i intend to keep it that way.

[likedamaster]

"Only apple product i own is an iphone, and i intend to keep it that way."

Agreed.

[Darkeyes]

@Pizzagaki... I use a Mac and Apple doesn't charge for Service packs... I mean, they have these numbers like 10.4, 10.5... All of them are equivalent to new OSes... For example, the current one (10.5) was a huge jump over 10.4... A price for that is justifiable, but the Service pack equivalent are regarded as 10.5.1/2/3... Apple keeps on updating the last digit with new features= Service packs for which it doesn't charge. Also, Apple charges less if the OS update is small... For example, 10.6 (Snow leopard) will cost only 29$ for an upgrade.... Thats cheaper than the Win7 Home edition...

The only reason people love Apple is cause of the image people have of M$... M$ has always been tagged as 'EVIL'.. I don't blame people since M$ did many evil things in the past... Like they f*cked up Netscape so bad that they had to shut down (they copied their web browser), they copied Apple and f*cked them up early in Apples infancy... etc etc.

Apple on the other hand was always perceived to be the 'Chosen One' which it never became earlier.. And people blamed M$ for that.. And then Apple suddenly comes up with iPod and again hits the peoples Soft spot....

Hate Apple all you want, but their products are really great. Yes I agree they are over priced(especially Macs), but hey I bought them over Vaios and absolutely love the Apple OS more than Win.... I even use Win for gaming. Apple in peoples eyes is like the rise of the fallen hero... Who can blame them... The iPhone is a device which still has been unrivaled...

[KingKionic]

Cant wait for Zune hd .

Emergence day .....

[wicked]

and me, I hope they release it in the UK this time.

[a_cold_soul]

Party over for MS?

....LMAO....

The U.S. is in a recession and a lot of major company's are hurting. But I bet as soon as Windows7 comes out MS will be right back on top. Also let not forget Bing is actually getting a lot of traffic these days.

All in all I would say the party is far from over for MS.

[Pizzagaki]

Well, sadly its human nature to hate the sitting order, even if its good for them.

Its one of the things i consider to be mysterious in humanity, and also proofs that humanity lacks a good sense of logic.
For some reason they just want to hate something thats big.....

The MS is doomed articles are getting tiresome, just like the USA is doomed articles i read in the left winged papers everyday in my country.

[Carl1412]

Bing is crap, it's pretty much the same as Google, except i can never remember it's name.

[Spike47]

I can't even think of which company would be the first to go down(gaming division). Sony is such a big company and they have seen that they can dominate just as well or better than Nintendo. MS is starting to rise to the top, and Nintendo basically has a money machine on its hands with the Wii.

[Sibs]

To have successes you must understand the fact that there will be as many, if not more, failures. If the successes outweigh the failures, the company profits. If the company fails to make risks and stays in its comfort zone it never grows.

Microsoft posted a smaller PROFIT, not even a loss, and somehow it's dying? So what, it's having a bit of a dry streak in a global recession, plenty of companies are having trouble. Get over it.

[GiantEnemyCrab]

%100 agreed.

[ASSASSYN 36o]

I 2nd that %100 agreement.

[cmrbe]

He wasn't actaully saying that MS is doom as i thought. Rather he is saying that MS is currently on the wrong path. Its his opinion that MS is trying to be a Media company rather than a Software company which is what put them there in the first place.

[ASSASSYN 36o]

I love how the article ignores the game division at MS.

[JD_Shadow]

From the article: "I could go on with home-automation initiatives, phone operating systems, pen computers (two shots at that market), page-layout programs, Web-design tools and on and on -- all shiny objects for a company that doesn't want to actually fill a need, but jump from one idea to the next."

Basically the "catch-22" quote, meaning that he could've gone on WITH the game division, but didn't because his point was made from the other things he mentioned. So he wrote THAT line to say that we could REPLACE the things he mentioned WITH the games division (which isn't doing too good for MS at the moment, either).

[LostDjinn]

I'm glad I have a science degree. Seriously. Not one of these "experts" knew it was coming or what to do about it. Microsoft may be in trouble, it may not be but I can't believe "the party is over". Let's face it. When all things are considered this article is just more speculation.

[Stevie Ray Vaughan]

This is what Sony fanboys need to hear, dont worry it will come true! Soon Microsoft will be finish and there will only be Playstation again!!! Just wait it ouy guys! Only a matter of time!

No more PS3rd place soon, just pray real long and hard! ;)

[cmrbe]

We all want MS to go belly so that thousands of people lose their job as well as hundreds of companies closing as a result.

Yeah we do want the ecconomy to get worse. You are so smart!!.

[-x.Red.x-]

MS's Xbox division is going down
that's how IT SHOULD be.

360 is the next dreamcast.

[KingKionic]

Ridiculous comment of the day .

[El Botto]

Because the 360 is not the next dreamcast.

360 is the next neo geo.

[Stevie Ray Vaughan]

Xbox 360 will have 90-100 million sold by 2015.

PS3rd = PS3rd

[OSIRUSSS]

I love MS's OS. I hate the XBOX. AS a company as a whole I like them and hope they never go under ever.

[Microsoft_Spokesman]

No, it has just begun.

[cmrbe]

The author is just saying that its time for MS to stop messing around and try to refocus their bussiness on what they are good at. Software.

[Jrome]

Actually the market does think that Zune is great. That's why it has had great sales. The first week it was released it was the second best selling device only behind Apple's iPod; and that was just with the zune 30.

Many people I have shown my zune to like it better than the iPod for a high capacity player. The only place the Zune line up is lacking right now is in the "touch" department and yes, sales suffered because they did not update the fall 2008 line-up.

However, with the Zune HD coming out and the new Zune software as well as their plans for integration across the board - Zune HD, Xbox Live, Windows Mobile 7, etc - They are once again being competitive.

Even though they won't be able to take over the market from day 1, they are bringing heavy competition and being in 2nd place is a non-issue if you are bringing quality product.

I do agree with you though that microsoft is stubborn and likes to go into different area of the markets without fully thinking over their product. However, in the end they usually learn from their mistakes and come with an even better product in the end and it's the same with a lot of companies.

[cmrbe]

just like most other devices but Apple are excellent in their marketing. No matter how better other products are value wise compare to Appl, Apple products are always the it devices to get.

We shall see but i doubt greatly Zune would do much against IPOD.

[Captain Tuttle]

They netted $14 billion last fiscal year and they have $30+ billion in cash.

[pure pwnage24]

at least I can say Micro$oft RRODed :P

[Figboy]

gaming journalism is the only thing that's doomed this generation...

[Jrome]

lol so true.

[A LIVING LEGEND]

In my experience "riding high in april,shot down in may" holds true.
"The sun still sets upon grey horizons".
Indicative of our times,no one escapes the madhouse unchanged.
Rise only to fall and then rise again to learn why we fell.Micro will be fine,they lost their feathers not their wings.I am not a Micro supporter per se but competition breeds innovation,and without it we are,all of us done.

[Dead_Cell]

How the second a company in the current "console war" does something wrong/makes a loss the whole internet starts preaching about how it's the end of there own little world.

[kewlkat007]

I don't think most are aware on how embedded MS software is around the world.

you don't have to tell me twice, if MS is in trouble or was to ever FAIL, your jobs would be as well and so many other entities with ties to just windows.

Most of this stuff is ignorant trash and really tied to the fact plenty on here, hate MS and the 360 in the industry.

[boss_killa]

first it was nintendo going the way of sega before wii launched.

then it was sony is doomed with the $600 ps3.

now ms is doomed.

i see a pattern here.

[vShinobi]

With Sony and Microsoft doomed looks like the Wii will be our new leader,bow to nintendo.

[indysurfn]

Nice Try. Microsoft beat analyst expectations (this one included) this quarter. They only had a 5% decline in profits, in the worst recession since 1929! Hello, if this is a decline I'd love to see the rebound they are expecting. Don't go out, and sale your stock in Microsoft if you have not already, it is too late, the stock has already declined on the rumor they where in talks with Yahoo. The translation here is this, this analyst has to help fill orders with fools that sale when it is already to late. The reason the stock dropped is obvious! It always drops when a company is in talks to make a large acquisition. And they are in talks to buy Yahoo, again. Every time they have went into talks with yahoo the last two years Microsofts stock dropped instantly, and yahoo's stock rose. With all companies it always happens (unless they are buying a small company). Yahoo is Hugh, even for Microsoft. Don't trust this analyst, he is two days late, and a few stocks short (which he plans to get from you cheaply). Microsoft also predicted that the internet would be way bigger than the operating system business, and office. I think they where right! They also predicted that online gaming was the future when Sony said it was not during last generation (Microsoft was right again). They also said a lot of things that where correct that other people LAUGHED AT! Including this analyst. Everyone was wrong, and the more your into the more you are going to be wrong. Look at GE, this kind of stupid comment was also made about them. Now GE is in EVERYTHING, and is one of the biggest companies on the earth, news, air planes, small kitchen appliances, TV's, radios, wiring, plumbing, paints, all kinds of electrical supplies, car equipment, commodities, obviously still light bulbs, large appliances, music equipment, utility equipment, let just say it didn't hurt them. And Microsoft is in many things also. Software, hardware, advertisement (yes they have been in it for awhile), games, services. This is why they have hundreds of executives so that they can each concentrate on the lines of business that they are assigned. It would be like saying Sony needs to concentrate on audio headphones instead of launching a PS1, and thinking it will one day be the biggest profit maker of the company. Hmmmmmm how did that turn out? Oh wait it IS the largest profit of the company for the last two generations before this one, and still may end up being big this generation? See how that worked! People where laughing at them too saying how can games pass TV's?

[bligmerk]

"Nice Try. Microsoft beat analyst expectations (this one included) this quarter."

This is either ignorance or a lie. This is from the headlines July 23, 2009 and that is why they are headlines, because they didn't even meet analyst expectations, much less beat them:

http://www.cnbc.com/id/3210...
Microsoft Shares Tumble as Profit, Sales Miss Expectations

[aldesko]

Nothing in the article is new. When you're as big as MS, there's nothing wrong with branching out and trying new things.

It's not like they forgot they make software, too.

[fr0sty]

nobody here can claim xbox to be a success for microsoft at all... microsoft has only lost money with xbox... 7 billion dollars to be exact. the xbox 360 has paid back the money it cost the company already, which is good, but it did nothing to the 6.8 billion the company lost on the first xbox.

[NaiNaiNai]

and sony lost over 400$ per system on the the ps3 when it launched, and is still loosing money putting them out, Why do you think theres no price drop. so in the end, the only people who are a success, are nintendo, and Apple *who pays its employees below min wage, as well does not pay over time, then tortchers there employes to the point they want to kill themselfs.*

[morkendo]

you have to become a hater to know the truth about microsoft or sony??
if someone comment something you dont like you become banned on here.
or if it sound stupid your bashed or called a tool or turd and still lose your bubbles becuz your not in the click of things. so childish
I tell you the truth, this one sided world full of sad lame a$$ people.
if you guys going to take my bubbles and banned me mise well tell the truth in the process. I seriously can't believe you guys come here day after fu'king day whining and bit'h about bull sh't... here is the deal sony will lower ps3 when its ready,in the mean time until market share (trade of economy price range)for investors to be reasonable for lost of (INCOME) THEN sony will lower the price until then MS is waiting on sony to lower its price, so they can capitalize on it. (nothing new on that)wii is a big seller becuz most people dont like lame hard core games. most people would perfer simple easy going games. its not becuz someone grand mother or father want these games but becuz its simple to use games.....if I get banned for telling the truth hell with this site.

[morkendo]

so let me get this straight
you have to become a hater to know the truth about microsoft or sony??
if someone comment something you dont like you become banned on here.
or if it sound stupid your bashed or called a tool or turd and still lose your bubbles becuz your not in the click of things. so childish
I tell you the truth, this one sided world full of sad lame a$$ people.
if you guys going to take my bubbles and banned me mise well tell the truth in the process. I seriously can't believe you guys come here day after fu'king day whining and bit'h about bull sh't... here is the deal sony will lower ps3 when its ready,in the mean time until market share (trade of economy price range)for investors to be reasonable for lose of (INCOME) THEN sony will lower the price until then MS is waiting on sony to lower its price, so they can capitalize on it. (nothing new on that)wii is a big seller becuz most people dont like lame hard core games. most people would perfer simple easy going games. its not becuz someone grand mother or father want these games but becuz its simple to use games.....if I get banned for telling the truth hell with this site.

[NaiNaiNai]

Well then since MS posted a loss I guess, Ford, Toyota Chevy, Toshiba, Sony, Magnavox, LogTech, Walmart, Disney, are all doomed, Stop this BS now you pahtetic fanboy trash, and try writing something worth reading.

[JD_Shadow]

You DO realize that you're talking about someone who writes for Marketwatch, which (or at least once was) is a subsidiary of CBS and (definitely now) the Wall Street Journal, right?

[caffman]

when an article comes on saying "Sony is doomed" all the droids come along saying that any article like that should be banned. Now its ok to put them on because its microsoft!

[mrv321]

Finally a Microsoft is doomed article about time... but no they are not Microsoft will survive I'm currently typing this in I.E and I'm using Vista I'm pretty sure Microsoft will be around for a while, same goes to Sony, Nintendo and a few people if you've survivied the worst of the depression I'm pretty sure you'll survive the rest.

[jack_burt0n]

roll on google OS, its funny to see mindless console fanboys but to actually be a microsoft fanboy thats scary you guys pay full price for office and windows on every system you own lol.

[Funky Town_TX]

The place that I worked at would have posted billions in profit last quarter like M$. Yes that is the kind of doomed I would like. Maybe we would not have had layoffs. Last I checked profits are a good thing right?

[FadeToBlack]

There are many morons that would wish Microsoft to go out of business. And to the person who compared a bankrupt GM to MS who is still making million in profits, you sir are an idiot.

Good day

[Double Toasted]

Xbox Live has a yearly revenue of around a billion dollars, half of that I'm sure is profit...

[saimcheeda]

is now about fanboys fighting all the time!!....

[danfry]

Thing is though, the only two things MS have done that I am genuinely impressed with throughout Microsoft's existence, is MS Office. The suite of software including Word, Excel, Outlook & PowerPoint. These apps are awesome and no one can deny that they have revolutionized the work place. Also Xbox Live - they are definitely pioneers in online gaming. I know this is a different MS division though.

But MS do freakin annoy me as virtually everything else they have produced has been copied from somewhere else, then reproduced in a substandard way.

I could go on b1tching about Windows, Windows Mobile, Windows Vista, Internet Explorer, the number of faulty XBOX360's my friends have been through and so on.

Having said this though, I don't want MS to go anywhere - but do they really deserve the success they have had, considering most of their products are inferior, regurgitated ideas that other companies have done a much better job of producing. Maybe in another 25 - 30 years they might be able to introduce a decent browser!

[double_heist]

Seems like this is Pirates of Silicon Valley all over again. :P

For those who don't know what Pirates of Silicon Valley is about, it's about what Microsoft did to Apple (basically copy stuff from Apple or "took them") thus causing the downfall of Apple.

Good thing to see that Apple rose again since the start of the iMac and iPod though.

[dcbronco]

http://n4g.com/NewsCom-3627...

It's the stock market scam at work. Microsoft is doing well. Like indysurfn said, they beat expectations. Doesn't anyone find it odd that when Surface didn't seem like a potential money makers, Zune was failing, Xbox was losing money and Vista was broken. No one said Microsoft was in trouble.

Now Surface is being used and is being readied for the home market. Zune HD looks like it will gain a nice piece of the market. Xbox is making money. And individuals and corporations are looking forward to Windows 7, MS is in trouble. And let's not forget the excitement over Natal. Watch for more doom articles(from only the most reputable sources, of course) and a lower stock price and just around the middle of September, before Windows 7 hits, all of the insider market players buy Microsoft and the stock price jumps making them millions.

Stay out of the market(stocks,401ks) people, it's one of the biggest scams perpetrated on the average worker.

@fr0sty

Yes Microsoft has lost somewhere around 6-7 billion on Xbox, but Sony has lost over 5 billion on the PS3 and counting. Xbox has been profitable over the last year, PS3 still isn't. I'd rather finish strong then to lose it at the end. And without a price cut, where is Sony's light at the end of the tunnel. Even with revenue down for MS they made a profit of over 3 billion for just the quarter, Sony lost over a billion for the entire year.

[bligmerk]

MS isn't really M$ any more. Three years ago, they had over 50 billion in cash. That is down to 25 billion now. They spent 25 billion buying back stock since the stock has been underperforming for several years.

When they bought it back, it was $30 per share. It went down to $17 last year and is now back to about $23. Just do the arithmetic and they lost a lot of money on the buyback.

They have also now borrowed, for the first time in their history, over $6 billion to buy back more shares. They are buying back shares because that is the only way they can try to raise their stock value, they don't have anything that is really increasing their value.

They are in the fight of their lives against Google. The really big problem of Microsoft is almost their entire valuation is in the stocks they have issued, not some intrinsic value of their products. Their biggest products are the operating system and the document applications. Alternatives to those are starting to emerge and they don't have anything revolutionary to raise them above the competition. Their biggest problem is they are not innovators, they are copiers and they have spent too much time and effort in copying and stealing other companies ideas and innovations.

Once their stock starts to weaken, it could prove to be a house of cards -- a big house of cards-- but a house of cards, nonetheless. If the larger investment firms start unloading MSFT, they could become ms very quickly, not MS or even M$ anymore.

[dcbronco]

it tells you something about how the market works. Yes Microsoft is buying back stock, big deal. While they are doing it to stabilize the stock, I think it is also to decrease the amount of exposure to a market proved to be flaky. Actually not flaky, a scam. Microsoft was making record profits before the "economic downturn". It still made 13 million in profits last year, while down, I'm lost on how that is bad.

3 years ago they had over 50 billion in cash, you neglected to mention that they gave over 30 billion to stock holders. If that's your idea of bad news for stock holders, tell what stocks you're buying. They must be amazing. Even when MS was making record profits, the stock was going down.

MS borrowed money. Yes they did. Not because they had to, but because the rate they were able to get it at because of being such a stable company was pretty much free. And that was a short-term loan that I'm sure has since been paid back. It was also done to help get the economy moving a bit since most weren't in a position to borrow.

In the fight of their lives with Google. Riiiiigghhhtt. Shouldn't that read that Google is in the fight of their lives with Mozilla. I only use Firefox, but even it has a long, long way to go to threaten Explorer. And with some of the new features announced for Explorer, I might actually switch back after years. Odd you don't mention Googles stock being down by a far bigger percentage than MSes.

Ah, the MS are copiers argument. Never heard that before. Who doesn't copy. The iPod wasn't the first MP3 player. Ford wasn't the first car manufacturer. And Google was not the first search engine, or browser maker or apps maker. Funny people have a problem with MS copying, but no one else. Most things are copies or a consolidation of other peoples designs.

As their stock weakens, Windows 7 will launch and it will go back up as the people telling you to sell buy your stock cheap. Once they drive the price up, they will start telling people MS has made a shocking comeback and everyone that can should buy.....from them and their friends and family. The average fool sells low once again, and new fools buy high. Go online and watch the daily show interview with Jim Cramer. It's very informative. Also read a book called Triumph of Conservatism. It might be out of print, but this is the way it has worked for years. Oh, and MS still make more profit than 99% of the companies in the world regardless of their size. If that is a company doing badly, rethink the stock market.

[infekt]

meh. *Goes back to playing Shatter*

[aiphanes]

Why? They did it in on the portable music....ie IPOD
They did it in the mobile phone...ie Iphone
They are doing it in mobile gamming....ie iphone
They will make a game console.....soon

And they will make a multitouch pad with a 10 inch screen and sell it for less than $600....and destroy all the netbooks...

Apple is the one to watch....Sony better get in bed with Apple.

Microsoft better embrace bluray...because bluray is about to explode! Apple knows this and they are about to jump in too...

[skottey]

As a computer professional and reader of PC Magazine until they went digital only, I've always hated John C. Dvorak. He is a moron. Not because of this article specifically at all, but he is just an idiot. All of my peers over the years thought he was a douche too. I've never met anyone that said they like his ramblings. Nobody does.

[bligmerk]

"Like indysurfn said, they beat expectations."

As pointed out above, and by news headlines, that statement is just flat out wrong. Not only did MS *FAIL* to beat expectations, they failed to *MEET* expectations.

"Yes Microsoft has lost somewhere around 6-7 billion on Xbox, but Sony has lost over 5 billion on the PS3 and counting."

This is either delusional or just web ignorance. Microsoft has lost almost *9 BILLION* on the Xbox. Sony is about *3 BILLION* in the hole on the PS3 but they are still positive for the Playstation brand by almost *2 BILLION*. The attached table image below shows console profit/loss for Sony, Nintendo, and Microsoft. This table is compiled from each companies financial statements which they have to file as publically traded stocks.

[Pootangpie]

seriously first of all the first Xbox wasn't very profitable for MS son in theory of course sony has made more on the Playstation brand but PS3 has just dropped in the crapper that they can't get off of sony is loseing Billions off of each PS3 manfuctured thanks to selling it for less then actually bluray players on the market more so then MS RROD 360 fiasco it's 2009 and the 360 is still in a 8 Million lead and in an even bigger lead when it comes to multiplatforms I know you sony fanboys are going to try to bring out it's because was released a year earlier but sadly not that's retarded ignorant and dumb sony shot it's self in the foot adding bluray and the $600 pricetag during launch also Xbox live is still makeing MS lots of profit so yeah

[Pootangpie]

espically considering the fact the company and bill gates is still the 3rd richest in the US and there still makeing tons of profit off windows XP and vista and the soon to be announced windows 7 not to mention Office and visual basic I know this isn't game related but if anything sony would defintly go bankrupt why before MS only a twit would takes this clowns prediction seriously if they thin

[Pootangpie]

beside the Playstation brand in general seriously over the last few years even during the bad economy I've heard of MS makeing profit off os windows,office and visual basic I've heard apple makeing profits off Iphone and the Ipod I have yet to see sony announce any profit comeing in from any of there manfuctured T.V's and other electric applinces accept for maybe bluray

[gumgum99]

There is just no middle ground on these type of articles:

Article on Microsoft losing sales, share, money, etc.:

-Microsoft fans disagrees and think its BS

-Everyone else agrees

Article on Sony losing money, profit, shares, etc.:

Sony fans think its BS

-Everyone else agrees

*sigh*

[gumgum99]

Why can we all just agree that both Sony and Microsoft are doing bad in this recession. Yes, both are keeping their head above water at the moment, but both companies are in the red in one way or another.

Neither company is recession proof right now. I can agree with this article to an extent because Microsoft, like Sony, is starting to feel the hurt as well to its own degree.

Same goes for negative Sony articles.