Financial analyst Charles Sizemore predicts that over time, a persistent Microsoft will come to not only thrive but dominate in the mobile computing space, because Apple has no "moats" to prevent customer attrition and its insistence at heavily controlling the ecosystem will drive customers away, while Google's offerings are too "shoddy." It's a bold prediction, but I suppose betting on Microsoft to be persistent and build on its strengths is a safe bet. But will persistence and flexibility be enough?
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Member since:
2006-01-28
Analysts that make these kinds of predictions are a dime-a-dozen. They will push whatever agenda their paid to push.
Yeap, Microsoft is thriving on the mobile space. Please, do not make me laugh. And google´s offering are so shoddy that hardware makers cannot sell them fast enough.
Everyone I know has an android phone with an i-phone here and there added. I have not met a person that uses a windows mobile phone or tablet in the last four years.
So keep dreaming but the horse left the stable quite a while ago and nobody wants to go back to Microsoft and its proprietary crap.
Member since:2007-02-18
Member since:2008-09-21
That particular analyst referenced in the article was already proven to be wrong. WP flopped huge, Surface RT flopped (see Ballmer's statement and just yesterday Microsoft cut its manufactor order by half from 4 million to 2 million Surface RT tablets, most if not close to all there partners left and the all-in-one Nokia hope is dying).
Lets face it. The Windows monopoly is gone. Today more consumer devices running Android are sold then consumer devices running Windows. Android grows fast, Windows decreases. Customers made there choice already. The ecosystem is with Android and iOs, the customers are with Android and iOs. Most customers know Windows very well and they are not going to put it on there phones, on there tablets, on there home entertainment systems too. Today they HAVE a choice unlike it was with the desktop last decades and they MADE there choice already. Its not Microsoft.
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2006-05-23
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They can't stick to desktop as the desktop is bound to downsize in the future. The mobile and living room space will increases. For now you couldn't get productive with mobile device or consoles, but we're getting to the point that these devices become sufficient to do everyday task (for most non-IT people) ex: writing email, reading news, using IM, writing text and making presentation. Sure purist will cry fool, but look around you and see how teens use these devices. Yeah, the Post-PC era is finally on us; it simply won't be as radical that most analyst predicted years ago.
Member since:2005-10-18
Member since:2007-02-18
Some would argue that the core business of any technology company is to try different things.
There's something to be said about this fear-of-failure culture that every wannabe CEO latch on to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iG9CE55wbtY
Member since:2005-10-18
Member since:2007-02-18
A technology company that does not try different new things is just a manufacturing company. The very term technology necessarily implies innovation. According to Wikipedia:
The word technology comes from Greek τεχνολογία (technología); from τέχνη (téchnē), meaning "art, skill, craft", and -λογία (-logía), meaning "study of-".
There is no study without trying new things.
Member since:2005-10-18
Member since:2007-11-11
Riiight, all they'll need is a bigger screen, more memory, a keyboard and hard drive space...why we could call it...dum dum dum...a PC!
Reality is VERY different, what is REALLY happening is PCs passed "good enough" for everything, even hardcore gaming, several releases ago, so now people aren't replacing until the previous one dies. that STILL equals hundreds of millions of PCs a year, it just means they aren't gonna sell as much as ARM because...well cell phones are disposable, as well as those cheap tablets. how many phones you have lying in a drawer somewhere? I rest my case.
Member since:2007-05-05
Member since:2005-07-06
You live in a quite atypical place, though... probably most people live in emerging markets, where there's still growth for PCs (for the likes of Lenovo, at least)
And phones definitely aren't disposable for the majority of ~6 billion mobile subscribers, who own their handsets upfront and are on prepaid. They also use their phones much longer than is the custom at more spoiled places.
Member since:2005-08-27
They where re actually good at that, until they shove that abomination named Tiles 8® down user's throats.
Actually I wish they'd disappear in oblivion. The sooner the better and I'll be dancing on their grave :-)
Member since:2005-07-06
I wish MS would stick with desktop stuff. They're actually good at that, and it isn't going away.
Remember Xbox? Atari got there first ...and died (the Atari of today is just renamed Infogrames), other vendors got there cheaper and/or better, and Microsoft got there late... and now Xbox has probably the best momentum.
Microsoft does usually dominate the fields they decide to focus on. Remember - DOS, GUI, office suites, they were all new things for Microsoft at some point in time.
BTW, Apple didn't really get there first with iPod - it really took off rather late ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ipod_sales_per_quarter.svg ) and in few visible markets - when the rest of the world was starting to move to mobile already (I saw some research from 2006 or 2007, how 20% of Europe uses their mobile for music consumption ...that alone means more than all iPods ever made)
Member since:
2006-04-22
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2006-01-11
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Nonsense.
In a similar manner to how Intel is slowly chipping away at AMD and NVIDIA's (mid-range) GPU market share ARM licensees and their respective CPUs will do so to Intel's x86 market share. IMO Intel has a lot more to worry about.
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2010-06-01
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2006-07-04
So I am hoping this guy is semi-right as I in the last few days have been converted from Android to Windows Phone. Semi-right because Android has a place and i don't want it to go away so I have an option to switch back in the future if I need to.
I've had 4 different Android handsets all have had major problems (G1, HTC something, San Fransisco (ZTE Blade) Galaxy S2 etc) with constant crashes/freezes and a sluggish interface.
I now have a Lumia 800 and I was shocked at how fluid it all is, there are certainly things it lacks but that's mainly down to apps and how new "Windows Phone" is, the phone itself is excellent and far better quality than most Android handsets i've played with (i played with most current gen Android phones in the shop before making my decision).
This is coming from a Linux user as well so I am in no way biased (i run gamingonlinux.com FYI).
Member since:
2007-01-30
The problem with the prediction is that it assumes people don't buy shoddy stuff, but they do, they do it all the time. The best selling PCs are the cheap and nasty ones, not the well-built workstations.
It also assumes that 99% of people have a problem with the locked-down ecosystem of the iPad etc. Most people don't even know it is locked down, and if they do, do they care? They didn't care that their Playstation or Xbox is more locked down.
I think the analyst is correct in is ideas, but he does not know what the ideas mean. It's willfully naive to think that crappy build quality and cheesy design will stop Android tablets selling. The low price and market saturation will ensure they sell.
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2007-11-24
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Wait, run that by me again. We're talking about Microsoft, right? The same Microsoft that managed not only to lock down windows RT and Windows Phone just as much as, if not more than, iOS but also to try and lock down our generic white boxes as well via Secure Boot? I really can't pull this argument apart any better than by laughing as hard as I am now. Just, rofl.
Member since:2008-09-21
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2007-03-30
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2010-04-06
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2005-06-29
Are they speaking of Google labeled hardware like the Nexus series? Because if so they are a bit off base; Nexus phones and tablets aren't as whiz-bang as the newest devices out there, but they are all solidly built and reliable.
They must therefore be speaking about the Android OS, but the problem with that mindset is that you'll find the most issues with Android on devices where it is heavily modified by the carrier or manufacturer. Pure Android OS on a Nexus device is solid. I always had issues with stability on Android devices until I started using a Nexus S, for example.
Granted, Android isn't for everyone and in many ways I prefer WP7, but over two thirds of the smartphones out there run Android. That figure alone speaks for its popularity and usability.
But who knows? Stranger things have happened; maybe Microsoft will come to dominate the mobile space. Maybe Google+ will come to trump Facebook and Twitter in the social space. Maybe one day my grandchildren will walk on Mars in the space exploration, er, space.
But I'm not betting on any of it.
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For a more objective view, see CNET's article entitled "Analysts Turn Negative on Windows 8 Prospects."
http://news.cnet.com/8301-10805_3-57552196-75/analysts-turn-negativ...
Member since:
2011-05-13
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2005-10-28
On Google "I simply have no way to gauge the sustainability of their advertising model, so I find it more prudent to invest elsewhere." ? Forgetting search, how about YouTube? https://www.youtube.com/t/press_statistics
Edited 2012-11-30 09:34 UTC
Member since:
2005-07-22
Member since:
2009-12-05
Say something long enough and loud enough and it becomes the truth, eh Microsoft? So nice to see that decrepit, FUD-happy old MS that I know aint dead. World would be so boring.
Just the other day, these FUDsters were complaining that webkit is becoming the new IE6. LoL. The nerve!
Member since:2005-07-06
Microsoft does have a very good overall track record... (DOS, GUI, office suites, gaming consoles - all were a new thing for MS, and in all of them MS came to dominate and/or have the biggest momentum)
And about Webkit... http://blog.chromium.org/2010/03/does-your-browser-behave.html (you'd think this means that Opera was, back then, the most pleasant browser to use with Google services? ...but no, they of course worked much better in Chrome; in fact, Opera works quite badly in them)
Member since:
2011-02-11
[...]
You simply don't have these sorts of problems with Apple or Microsoft. Why?
Because no iOS devices and most WP devices don't support SD-cards?
Member since:
2005-09-01
Google has made with Android for last 4 years.
Sure, WP might be a little more polished NOW, but assuming that actually matters, it will take years for MS to make up for market share it lost to Google.
Those years will be used by Google to make up for whatever shortcomings Android might have in consumers eyes.
Add to that MS currently doesn't have any real exclusive killer feature with WP while being:
- closed
- much less customizable
- much less flexible and OEM friendly (that translates to cost and OEM flexibility itself)
- associated with company known from its predatory practices towards partners (Google could easily blow it too, though).
MS was too attached to its monopoly benefits and throwing money at a problem practices it had in the past. Google managed bypass MS ecosystem while growing as strong financially. Buying more companies just won't cut it this time.
Besides with its current approach MS is aiming directly at Apple, not Android.
Edited 2012-11-30 17:40 UTC
Member since:
2009-03-17
I am of the opinion that these "analyst" should have a score card that gets attached to their name whenever they make an announcement/study. Just like they do in professional sports with athletes' stats (at least in the US).
It should be mandatory for people who earn a living making predictions to provide some metrics that allow the reader to gauge their track records.
Member since:2007-02-18