GNU/Linux is Shrinking Microsoft's Margins
- Dr. Roy Schestowitz
- 2009-07-28 08:46:08 UTC
- Modified: 2009-07-28 08:46:08 UTC
"Before I turn and talk about how all of that then can amount to growth, I do want to talk a little bit about the fact that there are risks in our business. We have risks, people love to talk about them. Challenges: People talk about the challenge we have from open source software. Yes, we do, and we’re focused in on it."
--Steve Ballmer, 2005
Summary: The impact of GNU/Linux on Microsoft's profitability becomes more evident
Microsoft's stock collapsed after very disappointing results that were partly caused by Free software and GNU/Linux. All of these are issues that we addressed before and last night a reader brought to our attention this article about Microsoft's shrinking margin.
CEO Ballmer is increasingly willing to accept lower margins in exchange for higher overall profits
Microsoft has long enjoyed Olympian profit margins, using its monopoly power to maintain prices on its software even in tough times. But now, amid a terrible downturn and rising competition, CEO Steven A. Ballmer is shifting to a scrappier approach. He is cutting prices on a variety of fronts, from flagship Windows and Office products to newfangled Internet services.
It is
no secret that Microsoft would rather give Windows for free than lose market share to GNU/Linux. According to
some, Microsoft would even
pay people/companies to use Windows, but
this is not a sustainable strategy.
⬆
"It's easier for our software to compete with Linux when there's piracy than when there's not."
--Bill Gates
Comments
Needs Sunlight
2009-07-28 10:21:20
You might scratch beneath the surface of the x86 market and find that a lot of home users and casual business users have dropped M$d cruft from their desktops.
Robotron 2084
2009-07-28 10:41:18
http://lucky13linux.wordpress.com/2009/04/13/there-is-no-microsoft-tax-except-on-lazy-twats/
Needs Sunlight
2009-07-28 12:35:13
http://www.freesoftwaremagazine.com/columns/the_microsoft_tax_revisited
This page is dated, but still gives an overview of the scope of the problem.
http://windowsrefund.info/survey/doku.php
Show me machines with linux or any other non-M$ system pre-installed. Oh, you can't, huh?
zatoichi
2009-07-28 13:11:45
Maintain separate BoMs (know what a "BoM" is? Anyone?) is an expense and additional work for companies. If Asus decided not to stock netbooks with Linux pre-installed, there's no "mystery" about it, it's because the additional cost and inconvenience of doing so wasn't justified by the sales.
aeshna23
2009-07-28 12:57:04
Roy Schestowitz
2009-07-28 13:02:27
"Robotron 2084" is a nymshift of someone who has been 'heckling' (and that's putting it gently) this Web site for years.
eet
2009-07-28 13:43:33
zatoichi
2009-07-28 14:22:44
"I'm convinced that this element of the open-source community, vocal and sometimes vicious, is a minority. I'm equally convinced that we'd better off if this enemy within would spend more time analyzing its own behavior rather than shouting down the supposed "mudbloods" of open source." —Matt Asay