IBM is Microsoft’s Nemesis?
According to Bill Gates in this article, IBM is their biggest concern right now. Along with Sony and Nokia. Gates says that Google’s not as big a concern as the media thanks they are, but the media likes to right stories about the more interesting competitors, like Google and Apple.
I’m not sure if this is denial by Gates or an indictment to the media for not covering the news, just the popular. Bill Gates says:
“I’m never going to change the press’ view about what the cool company to write about is. That’s Google number 1 and Apple number 2. Too bad for Nokia, Sony and all those others.”
“The biggest company in the computer industry by far is IBM. They have the four times the employees that I have, way more revenues than I have. IBM has always been our biggest competitor. The press just doesn’t like to write about IBM,” said Gates.
After reading the article, I don’t think Gates is really in denial. The quote above clarifies the reason IBM is their biggest competitor. It’s no doubt that Google is quickly becoming someone they are definitely concerned about though. Depending on where Google heads with things, they may overtake IBM for top spot, but maybe not. With Google’s recent denial of building a Google PC for sale at Wal-Mart, it may be seen that Google’s not really interested in pursuing hardware at all, they just want to build the services that everyone uses.
Possibly, that’s where Microsoft has the advantage. If Microsoft continues to focus on what they’ve done so far and continue developing applications and other items that are tightly integrated with their hardward vendors, it may be their long-term solution. It’s no doubt that Microsoft covers the majority of the control of the user experience on many hardward components and devices. And all of those components and devices are what’s needed for people to access Google’s services.
“The stuff in the labs today, with speech recognition, visual recognition, ink recognition, reading everything online and new devices that enable that — in five years, that will just be common sense,” said Gates.
“We’re pretty simple, because 30 years ago we said we were a software company and five years, 10 years from now we will say we’re a software company.”
I’m not sure about that, I think Microsoft is much more than just a software company. They are a platform for how things get done in the United States and around the world, and not just in business and offices, but more and more in entertainment and homes.
Full Article: Gates sees IBM not Google as top Microsoft rival on Yahoo! News
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POSTED IN: Corporate News, Speculation
1 opinion for IBM is Microsoft’s Nemesis?
Sim'
Jan 6, 2006 at 4:07 am
Don’t forget that IBM isn’t just about being big, or high valued, or large revenues. It’s about influence.
IBM is one of the broadest companies in the IT industry - they have fingers in almost every IT related pie.
IBM spend more on R&D in a year than most IT companies make as gross revenue.
IBM might not be as profitable or as sexy as some other companies, but it is still one of the most influential.
Microsoft will be wary of IBM, because if they get it wrong (I mean majorly wrong), IBM will be one of the best suited to capitalise on the mistakes.
Fortunately for Microsoft, they are rarely wrong for long - even if they head down a wrong direction, they have been known to make radical corrections in time to stay ahead of the pack. If they can continue to do that - they will continue to do well.
The big question is - does Microsoft have enough breadth to be able to grow ? Maintaining the status-quo is one thing - growth is another entirely. Google has growth, but not much depth at this point. Give them a few more years to consolidate their rapid growth, and they might become a contender - until then, it’s still largely a pile of sticks. A very valuable pile of sticks - but sticks none-the-less.
In my opinion ;-)
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