4 ms·

it's also interesting to note that Microsoft, a company that many software experts agree makes inferior products, is also a huge market leader. This hints at so

by mixmax 17y ago

it's also interesting to note that Microsoft, a company that many software experts agree makes inferior products, is also a huge market leader. This hints at something a lot of technically minded people oversee: Sales and marketing is what drives a company. Microsoft is probably the most savvy tech company out there when it comes to sales. Yes, they are stuffing things down people's throat, abusing their monopoly, and generally being a nuisance. But it works, and it works well. This steve Ballmer quote sums it up pretty well "well, we've been accused of a lot of things, but not being able to make money isn't one of them"

Retric 17y ago
Microsoft excels at a vary specific type of marketing. While they suck at the traditional approaches, (Jerry Seinfeld / Bill Gates etc) they are willing to spend insane amounts of money so they can leverage what works. Buying Halo / Bungie sacrificing all that cross platform money so they could "buy" hype. Buying Hotmail for far more than it was ever going to be worth so they could change the backend to use MS server. The problem for MS is they don't know how to scale back to less profitable industries. Edit: It could be argued that MS simply understands the value of creating a monopoly and is willing to spend to create new ones. They seem to make money selling MS branded mice without those tactics just fine, but I don't know how profitable that is.
shabda 17y ago
I was searching for the quote, well, we've been accused of a lot of things, but not being able to make money isn't one of them And all I can find is this HN ref. When did Ballmer say that?
- mixmax 17y ago
  If memory seves me correctly it was in revenge of the nerds.
jimbokun 17y ago
This was true for a long time, but I think a case can be made that today Apple sells better than Microsoft. Of course, Apple sells to consumers, Microsoft to businesses. Again, for a long time it looked like selling to business was the better market to be in, but now it is not as clear.

by mixmax 17y ago

Retric 17y ago

Microsoft excels at a vary specific type of marketing. While they suck at the traditional approaches, (Jerry Seinfeld / Bill Gates etc) they are willing to spend insane amounts of money so they can leverage what works. Buying Halo / Bungie sacrificing all that cross platform money so they could "buy" hype. Buying Hotmail for far more than it was ever going to be worth so they could change the backend to use MS server. The problem for MS is they don't know how to scale back to less profitable industries. Edit: It could be argued that MS simply understands the value of creating a monopoly and is willing to spend to create new ones. They seem to make money selling MS branded mice without those tactics just fine, but I don't know how profitable that is.

shabda 17y ago

I was searching for the quote, well, we've been accused of a lot of things, but not being able to make money isn't one of them And all I can find is this HN ref. When did Ballmer say that?

mixmax 17y ago
If memory seves me correctly it was in revenge of the nerds.

jimbokun 17y ago

This was true for a long time, but I think a case can be made that today Apple sells better than Microsoft. Of course, Apple sells to consumers, Microsoft to businesses. Again, for a long time it looked like selling to business was the better market to be in, but now it is not as clear.