We can be a bit more generous than that. For the last few years, the companies at the top of the heap have all been consumer-oriented companies, and it's easy

We can be a bit more generous than that. For the last few years, the companies at the top of the heap have all been consumer-oriented companies, and it's easy to forget that this doesn't necessarily have to always be the case. Microsoft itself is a household name for its consumer software products, so it's easy to think that their rise to the top would _have_ to be tied to consumer products too. From that perspective, these news are a bit of a head scratcher. The Surface line has been successful but not _that_ successful. Windows is as unexciting as always. The XBox isn't really a big thing outside the US. The NY Times isn't a business-centric publication, so it's pretty much a given that their audience would leave the analysis at this point. The things that make Microsoft enormous are all hidden from their view.