Sample chapters available online...
Contact me:
ed+@
+edwardtrimnell.com
(remove the "+" signs)
E C O N O M I C S
w i t h E D W A R D T R I M N E L L
What will Bill Gates' departure mean for Microsoft?
Bill Gates will no longer be involved in the daily operations of Microsoft after July. The big question: what will this mean for Microsoft users and shareholders?
Microsoft is going through a number of difficult transitions now, and no one can say for sure how the company will emerge from the changes. At present, there is reason for pessimism about Microsoft’s ability to remain competitive. Redmond’s efforts to compete with Google for online advertising revenues and other services have produced uneven results; and users definitely aren’t excited about Microsoft’s latest OS offering, Windows Vista.
The seminal books about the early days of Microsoft and the company’s initial successes with MS-DOS and Windows all reveal a couple of important facts:
1.) Microsoft’s early success was very much dependent on the OS/applications software business model, which now faces competition from open-source systems and online, subscription-based applications.
Equally important is the fact that the OS/applications field has been characterized by a low degree of ground-breaking innovation in recent years. What does the latest version of MS Word really do for users that the prior versions couldn’t? And how promising are Microsoft’s operating systems prospects when users are actively “downgrading” their PCs from Vista to Windows XP?
None of these factors harbinger an easy road ahead for the company.
2.) Love him or hate him, Bill Gates’ personality was the driving force at Microsoft during the high-growth phase of the 1980s and 1990s. Gates reportedly has “trustworthy managers” and “corporate leaders” groomed to take his place. However, it is unlikely that Steve Ballmer & company will be able to fill Gates’ shoes. (Video below: Gates speaks about Windows Vista and other Microsoft development projects:)
In a worst-case scenario, the post-Gates Microsoft will degenerate into just another tech company as more innovative competitors chip away at its market share on various fronts. This isn’t the only possible outcome, of course; but Redmond has some real hurdles to overcome if management hopes to recapture the company’s glory days.
