Summary: Reader's research and some thoughts about Microsoft's futuristic products (or rather lack thereof)

"Hello everyone," wrote Chips B. Malroy a day or so ago. "Remember what happened to Microsoft's Kin when it did not sell? That's right, they cut the selling price. Here is WP7 having the same treatment."

"In efforts to flog off what probably turned out to be the wrong products to stock," quotes Malroy from TechEye, "Amazon has slashed the prices of two of its Windows Phone 7 smartphones, the HTC Surround and LG Quantum, to a dirt cheap $0.01."

"Also," adds Malroy, "the Microsoft strategy of saying WP7 is sold out because of high demand is false. As many shops only had 5 phones of various manufacturers at launch. This can be proven by various first hand comments on the web. So MS is trying to pertend that WP7 is selling out due to high demand when the truth is in many cases some manufacturers simply did not want to get stuck with high levels of stock they thought could not sell."

Onward goes and quotes Malroy: "The deal is also only available for this weekend, but at that price they may be out of stock long before the weekend is over."

Malroy then asks, "So why would you dump a product that is supposedly selling well?

"Is this just another case of Microsoft fudging the numbers and trying to create a bandwagon effect for sales of WP7?"

Malroy has found two more items in the news [1, 2] ("Will Ballmer bail after banking big bucks?") from which he quotes: "All of this selling has triggered wide-eyed speculation that SteveB may be getting ready to jump ship.

"I thought this all sounded vaguely familiar, so I took a trip back down memory lane and discovered that Bill Gates went through much the same process when he was preparing to leave Microsoft. Bill's exit strategy extended over a period of years, but he officially handed over the titular role of CEO to SteveB in January 2000, stepping out of the limelight to become the newly christened Chief Software Architect. He gradually cut back his direct involvement, transferred the Chief Software Architect mantle to Ray Ozzie in 2006, and definitively left in 2008."

Malroy also quotes: "In 1999, the year before SteveB became CEO, Bill sold $2.5 billion in Microsoft stock. There were assurances all around that Bill was still firmly in control and would run Microsoft forever. Microsoft stock had soared and, the story went, Bill was pulling out funds to diversify his portfolio."

And finally: "While that's certainly true, it's also obvious that Gates launched his departure strategy with a significant sell-off of Microsoft stock."

Please bear in mind that Techrights no longer tracks Microsoft quite as closely as it used to for reasons that were given last month and it's news like the above which convinces us that Microsoft's time is running out, just like Novell's. Patent bulling is Microsoft's bet for the future and this is definitely a topic Techrights will cover thoroughly.

We rely on people such as Malroy accumulating links and compiling summaries which we will happily publish, so please consider getting involved. Come and join us at the IRC channels for example. Personally I'm always there paying attention unless I'm at work or asleep. Others are also willing to help and provide feedback. ⬆