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> "our strategy will focus on creating ... bla bla bla. I parse this as follows: PC sales are declining and selling Windows & Office licenses is not going to m

> "our strategy will focus on creating ... bla bla bla. I parse this as follows: PC sales are declining and selling Windows & Office licenses is not going to make it; now the option is either to focus on - Windows Server and cloud services OR - copying Apple; go for closed gadgets/tracking devices with a processor Copying Apple is a bad choice, very crowded space here / everybody wants to make an IPhone. In the end this means bad news for Windows Server, however who cares ... see "PC sales see 'longest decline' in history" http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-23251285 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-23251285 (On the other hand modern laptops nowadays look like tables, they have a touchscreen and detachable keyboards; there is some convergence here, so it is all very confusing)

Silhouette 13y ago
PC sales are declining and selling Windows & Office licenses is not going to make it This is the part I don't understand about the new spin from MS. Sales cycles are obviously extending, but how many offices in the universe don't run on PCs? Surely Microsoft are still making a lot of money selling business software, and in several fields their software remains dominant. There is plenty they could do to improve that business software and/or to adapt it to different ways of working, driving more sales based on genuine added value, but they don't seem to have much interest in doing so. That seems bizarre to me.
- seanmcdirmid 13y ago
  It's not sufficient that the market still exists, but it is no longer growing much and is beginning to show signs of shrinkage. Ya, you can still make money there, but less and less overtime. Good to get on top of these things and find other cash pandas.
  - Silhouette 13y ago
    Finding new/growing markets is all very sensible, but prioritising doing so at the expense of an existing and much larger market seems an odd choice unless you're really sure you're onto a winner.
    - seanmcdirmid 13y ago
      If your old market is tanking, you don't have much choice. PCs still provide income for Microsoft, but there are few or no opportunities for investment oriented around growth, and Microsoft ultimately wants to be seen as a still growing company and not as HP. So given that MS makes money on PCs, but can't grow this or invest in any interesting way, it makes total sense that their attention would drift elsewhere to markets where they can grow profit. We aren't very far apart here. The PC market exists, MS will still make money on it, but the future is somewhere else and we need to be there, especially since we can leverage and invest the money we still make from the PC market today.

Silhouette 13y ago

PC sales are declining and selling Windows & Office licenses is not going to make it This is the part I don't understand about the new spin from MS. Sales cycles are obviously extending, but how many offices in the universe don't run on PCs? Surely Microsoft are still making a lot of money selling business software, and in several fields their software remains dominant. There is plenty they could do to improve that business software and/or to adapt it to different ways of working, driving more sales based on genuine added value, but they don't seem to have much interest in doing so. That seems bizarre to me.

seanmcdirmid 13y ago
It's not sufficient that the market still exists, but it is no longer growing much and is beginning to show signs of shrinkage. Ya, you can still make money there, but less and less overtime. Good to get on top of these things and find other cash pandas.
- Silhouette 13y ago
  Finding new/growing markets is all very sensible, but prioritising doing so at the expense of an existing and much larger market seems an odd choice unless you're really sure you're onto a winner.
  - seanmcdirmid 13y ago
    If your old market is tanking, you don't have much choice. PCs still provide income for Microsoft, but there are few or no opportunities for investment oriented around growth, and Microsoft ultimately wants to be seen as a still growing company and not as HP. So given that MS makes money on PCs, but can't grow this or invest in any interesting way, it makes total sense that their attention would drift elsewhere to markets where they can grow profit. We aren't very far apart here. The PC market exists, MS will still make money on it, but the future is somewhere else and we need to be there, especially since we can leverage and invest the money we still make from the PC market today.