Real’s Glaser: Apple iPod+iTunes ‘will lose out because of the share of market forces against them’

20 years ago

“To a multi-billionaire like Bill Gates, $761m (£428m) might not be a huge sum. But to Rob Glaser it is a windfall that could make his RealNetworks one of the key players in the future of video- and audio-playing software,” Stephen Pritchard reports for The Independent. “The $761m is what Microsoft paid earlier this month to settle an anti-competition lawsuit brought by its American rival, alleging that Gates’s company had used its Windows operating system to lock out Real’s RealPlayer software in favour of Windows Media Player… With the competition authorities on his side, Glaser, Real’s chief executive, could have fought on. Instead he settled for a deal that amounts to around two and a half years’ turnover for his company. Just over half of the settlement, $460m, is in cash. The remainder will be paid for in services from Microsoft, such as advertising for Real’s Rhapsody music service on Microsoft’s internet portal, MSN.”

Pritchard reports, “Glaser’s decision to opt for access to Microsoft services, and not just cash, might also prove astute. It cements the working relationship and puts the Rhapsody service in front of millions of MSN users, giving it a leg-up in the fight with Apple’s iTunes. Glaser’s battle with Microsoft would have made him a natural ally of Apple’s chief, Steve Jobs. But he criticises Apple for adopting closed technologies instead of open standards. ‘Microsoft takes a very wide approach to licensing its digital rights management software. It is vexing that Apple has taken a closed approach.'”

Pritchard reports that Glaser “believes handset firms and operators will pick Real as its software is open and plays a range of file formats – something the Microsoft agreement only strengthens. That, he adds, is in contrast to Apple’s strategy. ‘The Apple-Motorola phone could be a train wreck. Apple’s deal with HP [to sell iPods] was a train wreck. That end-to-end approach to designing the customer experience can be effective early on, but over time it will lose out because of the share of market forces against them.'”

Full article here.

Advertisements: The New iPod with Video. The ultimate music + video experience on the go. Buy it now at the Apple Store. From $299. Free shipping.
Apple iPod nano. 1,000 songs. Impossibly small. From $199. Free shipping.
On October 27th, RealNetworks announced their earnings results for the quarter ended September 30, 2005. Real reported revenue of $82.2 million and net income of $11.2 million. Real’s music revenue totaled $25.0 million for the quarter.

On October 11th, Apple announced their earnings results for the quarter ended September 24, 2005. Apple reported revenue of $3.68 billion and net income of $430 million. Apple’s music revenue totaled $1.477 billion for the quarter.

How much time does Glaser plan to spend catching Apple exactly? Is Krispy Kreme now fortifying their donuts with some industrial-strength vitamins and life-extending gene therapy? In the last quarter, Apple matched Real’s entire quarterly revenue of $82.2 million in about the first 49 hours of the quarter. In the last quarter, Apple matched Real’s total quarterly net income of $25 million before lunch on the 2nd day of the quarter. In the last quarter, Apple matched Real’s music revenue of $25 million right around the 36th hour of the quarter.