Ballmer: Microsoft-Powered Tablets Are 'Job One Urgency'

[paul4339]

once thing I learned in the past:

never count Microsoft out (until they are out), especially in the business arena...

As much as they messed up, MS also has a history of throwing/blowing lots
of money at things just to be in the game (Xbox, Bing, etc). If they were willing to blow $20+ billion on Xbox, $48 Billion just to acquire Yahoo, just think what they would do to get a foot-hold into the tablet market. (now, if they could only stop the in-fighting)


P.

 

[Stella]

Don't discount microsoft. Should it provide functionality that businesses /consumers want, at a good price, could easily unseat iPad.

However, since Balmer is running microsoft into the ground - the chances of this are greatly diminished.

Balmer has a lot of failures under his belt. Basically, a big fat, sweaty cluster****.

Problem for microsoft, they tend to spend a vast amount of money on products - i.e., XBox, windows.

 

[meatballs]

Steve Ballmer is the man!

Seriously.

 

[btbeme]

once thing I learned in the past:

never count Microsoft out (until they are out), especially in the business arena...

As much as they messed up, MS also has a history of throwing/blowing lots
of money at things just to be in the game (Xbox, Bing, etc). If they were willing to blow $20+ billion on Xbox, $48 Billion just to acquire Yahoo, just think what they would do to get a foot-hold into the tablet market. (now, if they could only stop the in-fighting)


P.

Probably the best point made here all night. You are absolutely right. They do blow. A lot.

 

[entatlrg]

LOL, follow the Leader microsoft ... "knock off / copycat business" is the level of creativity they have ...

'Wait-see-copy' ... makes me sick, profit from someone else's research and hard work ... too uptight to pioneer or come with with something good on their own, pathetic company getting worse

 

[btbeme]

once thing I learned in the past:

never count Microsoft out (until they are out), especially in the business arena...

As much as they messed up, MS also has a history of throwing/blowing lots
of money at things just to be in the game (Xbox, Bing, etc). If they were willing to blow $20+ billion on Xbox, $48 Billion just to acquire Yahoo, just think what they would do to get a foot-hold into the tablet market. (now, if they could only stop the in-fighting)


P.

Imagine if they simply hired great visionary designers and engineers, then followed through with their ideas. Get a hundred of them. Pay them a million each per year. Save a few billion.

 

[paul4339]

Probably the best point made here all night. You are absolutely right. They do blow. A lot.

I wonder how much they spent on Zune ... just to get << 10% market share.
And they still aren't giving up.

P.

 

[notjustjay]

After reading these sorts of interviews, I have a hard time resisting the urge to compare him with a certain infamous Information Minister.

 

[rwilliams]

They're really going to put Windows 7 on a tablet? Why, when the Windows Phone 7 OS looks like a perfect fit for a slate/tablet device. Hell, that OS actually looks like it was built for a tablet, and then ported to a phone.

 

[RawBert]

I HATE Steve Baldmer!

When are the MS board members gonna kick this jackass to the curb? Just imagine MS with good leadership.

 

[kuck]

once thing I learned in the past:

never count Microsoft out (until they are out), especially in the business arena...

As much as they messed up, MS also has a history of throwing/blowing lots
of money at things just to be in the game (Xbox, Bing, etc). If they were willing to blow $20+ billion on Xbox, $48 Billion just to acquire Yahoo, just think what they would do to get a foot-hold into the tablet market. (now, if they could only stop the in-fighting)


P.

Throwing money at "things" does not do any good. It is the people in an organisation that make great products.
Was the XBox market ever a profitable market or did they take something away to make things better in the future?

kuck

 

[btbeme]

I wonder how much they spent on Zune ... just to get << 10% market share.
And they still aren't giving up.

P.

On the what?

 

[davidgrimm]

While MS is persistent, they're main problem is they rely on "partners" (victims may be a better word) to do the hardware. Apple has total control and that gives them a lot of product design capital to spend to create new products. While the Xbox has been a success, MS has had more product failures that winners in recent years. They have a difficult time competing in markets that Apple creates.

The MS strategic plan is simply "do what Apple does" and don't mess up the Xbox or the desktop too much.

The zune, MS stores with guru's, phones, and now pads. Its monkey see, monkey do, though not very well.

A google pad might cause the iPad product manager to pause, but not a windoze 7 pad.

 

[LagunaSol]

While the Xbox has been a success

I keep hearing this but I don't understand it. 40%+ failure rate for the 360 the first couple of years (?) and the whole Xbox project is still billions in the hole as I understand it. It won't be long before they'll have to deliver a new generation console and the losses will start all over again.

I don't know of a definition of the word "success" in a business sense that really fits the reality of the Xbox.

 

[Salacion]

Ballmer said the goal is "not just to deliver products, but to deliver products that people want to buy."

I believe this is Microsoft's problem. So their goal for this product is to, make people want to buy it? In other words, make money. This is why Apple is succeeding far and above Microsoft; they have a different set of goals. Granted, every company's purpose is to make money, it all fundamentally comes down to how you're achieving it.

That goal btw, is not a goal for Apple; it's an inborn constituent.

 

[Salacion]

I keep hearing this but I don't understand it. 40%+ failure rate for the 360 the first couple of years (?) and the whole Xbox project is still billions in the hole as I understand it. It won't be long before they'll have to deliver a new generation console and the losses will start all over again.

I don't know of a definition of the word "success" in a business sense that really fits the reality of the Xbox.

Their success is their demise. See, their relative "success" all stems from the early start the Xbox had. Without that, well, let's just say it would be different. Heck, it got me to buy one. Of course, it broke within 6 months.

This is the PS3's first year to make a profit, so things are looking up. Sony to me, is the Apple in the console market, so I naturally support them. Not to mention, their hardware is superb along with their exclusive titles.

Btw, according to surveys, the failure rate is 25%. I find it hard to believe.

 

[res1233]

Was, not is.

The idea is if you skate to where the puck is, by the time you get there, it'll be long gone. So, if Microsoft looks at the iPad, and decides to copy it, by the time they do, Apple will be out with iPad 2. Such is the life of any company as dedicated to copying as Microsoft.

 

[paul4339]

Throwing money at "things" does not do any good. It is the people in an organisation that make great products.
Was the XBox market ever a profitable market or did they take something away to make things better in the future?

kuck

('great products' bolded)

no arguments here...

I just meant throwing money to get a foot-hold in market share... not to make good products, nor be immediately profitable. (meaning that they will push a product regardless if it is profitable or good, to gain market-share if necessary, eg, xbox, zune )

(to answer your question ... I don't think xbox was ever profitable, unless it was just recently)

P.

 

[btbeme]

1. Apple creates the iOS
1a. Google creates Droid OS
2. Apple releases iPhone
2a. Google partners to release Droid enabled phones
3. Apple releases iPad
3a. Google partners to release Droid-enabled tablets
4. Apple socks away $billions in profits
4a. Google continues to swim upstream and gains some headway with some successful business models.
5. AAPL buys GOOG

Google is the only big competition for mindshare that Apple has right now. Microsoft has to out-think, out-design, and out-execute both Apple and Google to keep/grow its market.

Apple vs. Google is a good and worthy battle. Microsoft vs. Apple + Google isn't even fair.

Microsoft is worth almost exactly what it was worth seven years ago. Google is valued at almost 500% more than it was 7 years ago; AAPL is up nearly 2500% in that timeframe. The market (code name for customers) rewards innovation. Almost 80% of Windows systems running today use a 7 year old OS. If I were Microsoft's board of directors, I would want to know why.

 

[skellener]

As for Apple and the iPad, Ballmer said, "They've sold certainly more than I'd like them to have sold."

Now there's a guy who really cares about producing the absolute best product he can.


/s

 

[iPadPublisher]

And this is news how?

Tablets have been a priority for quite some number of years at Microsoft.

Maybe if he wanted to make (real) news, then he should have said "A Competitive tablet" or "A Good tablet" or "A Tablet that doesn't suck" is "Job One Urgency" at Microsoft.

I'm not the only guy who's, like, completely over Windows, am I?

 

[ten-oak-druid]

The windows-pad would have likely cannibalized the microsoft phone had they not given up on that.

 

[res1233]

Now there's a guy who really cares about producing the absolute best product he can.


/s

Well, you have to understand where Microsoft is coming from. Back in the olden days, when windows 3.1 was released, it was put onto computers that were a lot cheaper than macs. People didn't know back then how bad an OS could be, till they all got hooked onto CheapOS. But by then, it was too late... Microsoft dominated, and Apple nearly lost, if it wasn't for steve jobs coming back and putting the company back on track.
I don't think that they understand that people are on to them. People aren't as quick to buy a product because it's a lot cheaper anymore. You're more productive if you use a product that has far fewer problems, and makes getting the job done easier, and that's what Apple "tends" to deliver. Not always, but they are definitely known for it. If Microsoft wants to get back in the game, they will have to get on the right track, one that they never were really on to begin with.

 

[thedoctor9]

Notice that the picture is from early January, before the ipad was introduced.

FYI... the ipad was already for release (by Jan 27, 2010), not just a prototype at that point as compared to HP's Slate (also the msft courier).

Anyway, it has been 6 months that MSFT (and every other tech company)disected, COPIED, REVISED, etc on how the iPad works. Surely, a "CLONE" will be available at the end of the year (maybe an oversized Zune from MSFT). RIM, Google already announced their RIM OS, Android OS tablet.

Who would have thought that you can use a phone OS to run a tablet with ease?

 

[iPadPublisher]

80% of Windows systems running today use a 7 year old OS. If I were Microsoft's board of directors, I would want to know why.

I think they've finally come out and said it's because Vista was a turd. I played with it for twenty minutes at Best Buy when it launched and knew I didn't want it on my machine.