These are very dark days for people who work for many divisions of Microsoft as tablets and smartphones have absolutely decimated the PC market as evidenced by a decline of 14% in sales of PCs last quarter. This news comes on the heels of the Windows 8 launch, the new OS which fuses the best of the tablet and Windows experience in one platform. The only problem is the new OS with all its marketing and slick new form factors isn’t cutting it, as consumers gravitate towards smaller screen devices.
Expect many calls for Steve Ballmer to be fired and when you consider how many markets Redmond has squandered since 2000 you could make a solid case for pushing him out. Tablets, music, cloud and smartphones are just a few. 11 months ago, one reporter had the foresight to say he should have been fired already.
It’s worth noting that Samsung has been one of the few companies besides Apple to capitalize on tablets and smartphones and other companies in this space which enjoyed leadership positions such as Blackberry, Nokia and HTC are also struggling.
Redmond will definitely see sales from corporate customers who upgrade PCs from XP and other operating systems to Windows 8 and of course its developer, server and Exchange lines of business are in no jeopardy at the moment.
Still, you have to wonder why the company isn’t leading the market in app sales on Android and iOS. It is common knowledge that users want Office on their iPads for example… What is the delay? The latest rumors say the market needs to wait a full 18 months from now to see its debut! The company makes games as well so why not try to dominate mobile devices with your game development?
The additional challenge here is Microsoft already tried to fight Apple with the unveiling of Windows 8 and it seems this isn’t a successful strategy. In fact, this polarizing OS seems to be pushing people to tablets and smartphones.
This strategic shift in the market requires Microsoft to refocus like it did when it missed the internet in the nineties – but this time, Google and Apple have precious few vulnerabilities to go after.
When Borland owned the desktop database market and could charge $650 for its software some decades ago, Microsoft stunned the world by rolling out its Access competitor for only $99. When Netscape owned the desktop browser market and charged for its software, Microsoft rolled out Internet Explorer for free.
This time, pricing isn’t going to help the world’s still-dominant OS provider attract massive amounts of new customers. Innovation is about the only thing left to try and they are losing the innovation battle to Android and iOS. The scary thing is Adobe Flash for the moment is still a major reason to us PC products but once HTML5 gets established, PC sales could slow even more.
Microsoft needs to do something to change this momentum and it needs to do it fast as not only are customers signaling discontent but financial analysts and investors are joining in.
Learn more about HTML5 at the ultimate HTML5 developer conference DevCon5, July 24-25, 2013 in NYC.
