Steve to Steve: Get a PC
News Analysis. Yesterday, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer drew another line in the sand before Apple. Why does that line keep moving? |
SteveB sent a letter to Microsoft employees in late afternoon, highlighting all the good things the company would soon be doing. But it was really 12 paragraphs and five bullet points of delay before announcing that the top executive for platforms, Kevin Johnson, would leave Microsoft. The division, which is responsible for Windows, also split in two.
In SteveB's paragraph about Apple he wrote:
"In the competition between PCs and Macs, we outsell Apple 30-to-1. But there is no doubt that Apple is thriving. Why? Because they are good at providing an experience that is narrow but complete, while our commitment to choice often comes with some compromises to the end-to-end experience. Today, we're changing the way we work with hardware vendors to ensure that we can provide complete experiences with absolutely no compromises. We'll do the same with phones—providing choice as we work to create great end-to-end experiences."
I've covered Microsoft for about 13 years. I can't count the number of times that I've heard this "we're changing the way we work with hardware vendors" kind of talk before. It's so condescending the way Microsoft's CEO calls the Mac experience "narrow but complete." Microsoft is too hung up on choice, which is one reason it's finding renewed competition from Apple.
Microsoft owns the desktop PC operating system market; Apple's gains there are modest, though surprisingly resurgent. According to Gartner, Apple is the No. 3 computer manufacturer in the United States, measured in shipments, with 8.5 percent market share in the second quarter, up 6.2 percent from a year earlier. But it is in music, with iPod and iTunes, that Apple beat back the Microsoft juggernaut. The iPhone is posed to repeat the success in the mobile phone market.
This "we'll do the same in phones" talk is just talk. If I were Apple CEO Steve Jobs, I'd say, "Bring it on, baby." Microsoft has been developing mobile phone operating systems for more than a decade. Newbie Apple is storming the mobile market. Where is Microsoft? The App Store is Apple's killer application, so to speak. People don't want more choice, they want the right choices. Microsoft's more choice philosophy is fundamentally flawed. Choice works for Microsoft because of distribution. There are more places people can choose Microsoft products, which gives them a competitive edge. Apple sells iPod through more than 45,000 retail outlets. "Narrow but complete" can be hugely successful when there is distribution.
Microsoft is having a bad century with Windows. The company took seemingly forever to develop and release Vista, nearly six years after Windows XP. Meanwhile, Apple released five Mac OS X versions.
Since Vista's launch nearly 18 months ago, Microsoft has shipped, not sold, 180 million Vista licenses—40 million in the last quarter. By sheer volume, Vista easily eclipses Mac OS X. In a report published yesterday, Forrester Research analyst Thomas Mendell described Vista as the "new Coke." Say, whatever happened to the old Coke? Right, it became the new Coke. That's Microsoft's situation, as businesses strip off many of those 180 million Vista licenses that Microsoft claims and re-images with Windows XP. Whoops.
"The success of Windows is our number one job," SteveB wrote. "It's time to tell our story. In the weeks ahead, we'll launch a campaign to address any lingering doubts our customers may have about Windows Vista. And later this year, you'll see a more comprehensive effort to redefine the meaning and value of Windows for our customers."
Well, I keep hearing about Microsoft's $300 million Windows Vista ad campaign. It's where Microsoft gets to respond to those Apple "Get a Mac" ads. Steve will get to Steve—the other being Jobs—that he should get a PC.
For all Apple is doing right, it's not doing enough in the enterprise to take advantage of Vista's problems. Thomas writes in his report: "Our study shows that [enterprise] momentum is good but adoption is low, so for now, if you're developing for enterprises and have a tight budget, forget about Macs." Mac enterprise share was 4.5 percent in June, up from 3.7 percent in January, according to Forrester.
"Given low Vista sales, it's time for Apple to execute its enterprise strategy—if it has one," he emphasized.
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Comments (9)
Apple does not have an enterprise strategy for the Mac --yet. It has one for the iPhone and will use this as a trojan horse to enter the enterprise.
They will ignore the enterprise for the near future (2 years) as far as the Mac is concerned. They will only start taking Enterprise seriously once they have Snow Leopard ready. They are slowly but surely checking off the feature list needed to enter the enterprise.
They have far too much to loose being an enterprise company than they can gain in the short term. Short term their only focus should be on executing on the iPhone. iPhone, iPhone, iPhone.
-S
Posted by Sandeep | July 24, 2008 4:36 PM
Snow Leopard, as Sandeep mentioned - IS Apple's enterprise play. They need better multi-system management than Remote Desktop can currently provide, and they need to mature their directory and/or begin integrating/infiltrating Active Directory. But at the end of the day, a Mac running Snow Leopard will be able to join AD, participate in a domain, interact as well as (probably better than) a Windows system running Outlook. It just needs better management, and they need to continue focusing on device form factors (read: a MacBook Pro with a dang port replicator), and they can own Microsoft's lunch.
Posted by Wes Miller | July 24, 2008 4:50 PM
Wouldn't it be a Microsoft strategy to go after a market with an unfinished product because of some perceived opening.
If Apple push into the enterprise unready that opening is closed forever.
Can only make first impressions once, etc... You get the idea.
So the only "front-end" feature disclosed so far about Snow Leopard is MS Exchange support. Pretty obvious...
Oh and Apple, please oh god please don't start making laptops with docking stations!
Posted by whatever | July 24, 2008 9:31 PM
With Apple's recent tactics with the iPhone, it appears they are getting set to make a move into enterprise. I expect to see big changes in that arena.
You're right about Vista sales numbers. We just purchased a thousand laptops and reimaged them with XP.
Posted by Partners in Grime | July 25, 2008 10:13 AM
HArdware vendors have damaged the reputation of Windows Vista. It is there objection to change that had to happen for the benefit of security that has harmed the reputation of Windows and by doing so there hardware business as a whole.
I have bee running Vista and there have been no issues other then minor driver issue. These issues are the problem of the hardware vendors not Microsoft. Windows has been an agent for choice thus why we have so many choices for hardware at affordable prices. The consumer needs to hold hardware vendors accountable for poor lack of vision in realizing that Vista addresses the security concerns of the end user/business. Manufactures were only required to make changes to there drivers of existing hardware and new hardware to conform to this secure PC Platform focus.
It is rediculous that Microsoft did its part and now the hardware vendors needed to do there part for all the current hardware drives at Vista release or within a few months not a year or two and didn't. they then blame it on Microsoft.
I'm tired of all this Microsoft bashing who is bashing the hardware vendors because of there poor drivers? A lot of the drivers and apps still have not met full Microsoft certification standards why is that I ask? Now Microsoft enforces this more strictly for security and stability reasons and Software\Hardware vendors are complaining.
Where would your business be today if it wasn't for Microsofts committment to choice which keep volume sales high, prices moderate, and fuels competition.
Posted by Bdub | July 25, 2008 3:06 PM
Bdub - here's my $0.02 on this...
Microsoft strapped the PC world into Windows for better or worse. That's the end of choice there. This means differentiation between hardware vendors is basically nil - they are windows boxes, end of story.
So that means there's x number of box pushers with no way of differentiation other than price (with quality and innovation as casualties), and 1 (one) single, solitary, all-by-my-lonesome software vendor that of course causes all the problems lack of competition brings.
So thanks to Microsoft your choices are 8 or more contrived variations of Windows Vista with a cheap box of your choice and a prayer for Microsoft-supplied drivers.
How bad is the hardware situation? Well, Sony is currently the hardware hero of the month for *not* shipping crap-ware on their laptops. Oh sorry, actually for giving you the option not to include crapware. It's even got a marketing name like "FreshStart".
How bad is the software situation? Well, Vista the new OS was perpetually delayed and feature stripped and after almost 2 years since availability is still hated. (no judgement on fact vs. fiction) The vast majority of PC's run the 7 year old Windows xp. Just ponder that for a second - 7 years...! 7 Years ago Macs still shipped with OS 9 by default for crying out loud.
Now if that doesn't illustrate to you the dire situation this choked and strangled industry is in, i don't know what would.
Posted by whatever | July 26, 2008 12:00 PM
Windows XP is a mature product that Just Works, so business has no compelling reason to immediately upgrade to Vista, but they eventually will.
With a worldwide market share of 3%, the Mac is certainly no threat to Windows.
Posted by JohnJ | July 26, 2008 9:46 PM
I totally agree with the post by "whatever". He hit the nail right on the head. JohnJ should re-read the article to get the market-share right.
What I do find funny is that Balmer is dissing Apple right and left, even when he pays them a compliment he cuts them down in the same sentence. Yet, Stevie B's big plan is to be more like Apple.
Anyone remember before the iPhone was released how Balmer preached doom and gloom for it because it was not enterprise ready? Did he notice when iPhone sales went over his shiny head?
Posted by Randy Smith | August 7, 2008 2:33 PM
Problem is; Microsoft won't invent because they can't. They never did. If they want to, it would be best to burn he place down an restart with half the number of warm bodies they employ today. Worst of all; they have been working 'over the heads" of the end-users since forever. They don't have a clue about interface-design. They don't have a clue about ergonomics. And worst of all; there is no respect for the above-mentioned end-user. MS makes life on the desktop complicated and cryptical. There is no structural change at MS. It would be best for them to port their applications portfolio to Linux and shrink-wrap Office -for instance- with that OS.
Clearly, MS is losing its grip on the market (just look at the success of the EE-pc, linux included!)
Posted by hendrik | August 23, 2008 7:08 AM