Why wouldn't they? I don't think Microsoft could have ever hoped for a better long term outcome. Microsoft made about $60B in revenues last year. Apple made a little more than half that and, for the most part, is still hardly a threat to Microsoft. Sure, they get their asses kicked in the portable music player and song download markets, but it's not really their core business. I think Microsoft's entries there are more about establishing fence posts than taking over a market.
You've already ruled out the portable music players, so what else do they have ?
- search ?
- office software ?
- desktop operating systems ? (massive piracy, bad product launches)
- mobile operating systems ? (lost to the iphone, in due time probably lost to android, too early to tell)
- game consoles ? (lost to the wii)
They're still doing well, but they could be doing a whole lot better.
If fence posts were all they were then they would have been better of to never get those products out the door. Once bitten twice shy. When microsoft was the only game in town that strategy worked. Today I think that is no longer a viable way to do business.
I don't know if they're planning for this to be a new core business. Up to this point they haven't been competing there like it is one. Bing is a fine entry, though. It's not going to knock off Google search, but they've done a very respectable job.
- office software ?
I dislike Microsoft Office and haven't used it for many years, but I realize I'm in the minority. Microsoft is so entrenched here it's ridiculous. The MS Office upgrade cycle will be safe for quite some time.
- desktop operating systems ? (massive piracy, bad product launches)
Every Windows release that I can remember has been a flop in one way or another, although Vista is in a tight race with Windows ME for worst launch ever. It hardly matters when the majority of PCs purchased come with Windows whether you want it or not. Besides, many of the people avoiding Vista are ending up with a new copy of Windows XP.
- mobile operating systems ? (lost to the iphone, in due time probably lost to android, too early to tell)
It's a joke.
- game consoles ? (lost to the wii)
Everyone lost to the Wii. It doesn't mean Microsoft hasn't had a respectable showing here. They're also still sufficiently different that they can coexist without much trouble.
It's obvious that Microsoft doesn't dominate markets the way they did 10 years ago, but I wouldn't be surprised if, after the anti-trust thing, they realized they don't have to. They are incredibly well diversified and making money in a lot of different places. They're still #1 by a longshot in the OS and office suite markets and making a good showing in a couple others.
