How Microsoft Is Destroying Its Future
A March to Irrelevance
Source: JD Lasica
“We don’t believe in coming to market like Apple – high margin, high quality, high price. We believe in high volume and low price,” – Steve Ballmer
Most companies spend millions attempting to promote the first and abolish the second.
Even the poster child of bargain-marketing, Walmart, has been struggling for the past few years to move upmarket with in-house “designer” brands and higher end goods. Cutting costs mean cutting margins. It means living lean—and having no brand loyalty.
If you compete on cost, the moment a cheaper competitor comes along, there goes your market.
But on the low end, Microsoft is not going to outcompete Linux on the low end—and if they do, the Microsoft of now is not going to much like the Microsoft it’ll have to become to do so.
That leaves the mid-market. Which is nothing. (more…)
