Goldman Sachs “removed software giant Microsoft Corp. from its ‘Americas Conviction Buy’ list,” John Letzing reports for MarketWatch.
“Microsoft, which had been on the list since June 2006, saw its shares fall slightly, to $28.54,” Letzing reports. “The investment bank said that with the recent releases of its Vista operating system and Office 2007 suite, Microsoft is headed toward an uncertain future as it spends heavily to increase online services.”
“‘Investor nervousness remains high, particularly given uncertainty regarding spending plans in [fiscal] 2008 and recent negative management comments on Vista,’ the analysts wrote. In February, Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer warned that some analysts’ expectations for Vista sales in fiscal 2008 were too high. The company also has indicated that it will spend significant amounts of money to increase its relatively small share of online services such as search,” Letzing reports.
Letzing reports, “Vista, Office 2007 and other contemporary Microsoft product releases ‘potentially mark the end of an era. … Changing technology and business models in areas such as software-as-a-service, virtualization and open source seek to diminish Microsoft’s stranglehold on the desktop, which in turn significantly depletes the company’s cash cow,’ the Goldman analysts wrote. ‘Vista may be the last big operating system developed by the company.'”
Full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Kevin” for the heads up.]
Related articles:
BloggingStocks: ‘Apple is a phenomenon’ – April 09, 2007
Microsoft is dead – April 08, 2007
Microsoft faces mutiny: Dell to expand Linux factory-installed options; HP dumps Media Center PCs – March 29, 2007
Spate of recent Mac security stories signal that Microsoft, others getting nervous – March 06, 2006
Apple’s Mac is not doomed to small market share forever; the ‘Ignorance Lag’ is ending – February 11, 2005
Defending Windows over Mac a sign of mental illness – December 20, 2003
Apple could sell its previous operating system to the PC community whilst keeping the latest version for Apple’s own computers, thus giving computer manufacturers the choice of loading the latest Microsoft OS or the previous Apple OS, perhaps some months after Leopard has earned its spots. It could make a lot of money by shorting MS stock, but only if iWorks incudes a simple spreadsheet app, as in Resolve of oldentimes. It could call its PC-ready OS SHADES, or maybe BLINDS. Why not?
harrythe hustler:
it could be called Vista SP37
It took Goldman this long to get a clue? Glad I’m not one of their clients.
WOW
Just wow……
Die Microsoft
@Towertone
Thanks for the link. I didnt know who the original author was.
Very aptly selected by Mr Sheildzee. Nice to see some high-brow commentary occasionally…
TowerTone…
“I wonder if it was June 6, 2006 when they were added. That would make sense…”
Gearldeen?? (Flip Wilson) had the proper quote here!
TR
(spelling is not my strong suit)
motorhead
Not sure what you mean, but I am always in the mood for some Flip comments……
And the date I was speaking of…… 6/6/6
@harrythehustler
Nice idea. However, I am sure Apple would not want the hassle of providing support for an old O/S across an infinitely variable set of hardware. And the manufacturers of the hardware bits and pieces are not likely to want to build drivers for their old hardware for an old O/S.
If you look at Apple as a corporation they are executing a plan to grow their business steadily but surely across a wide range of fronts. Growth has to be managed – and the more complex the product, or the environment into which the product is being introduced, then the more carefully you need to manage the growth.
The Mac is currently the most complex product Apple sell. Growing the Mac marketshare is important to Apple, and they are succeeding. However if the Mac marketshare was to grow too fast, say into the corporate space, Apple would be under a great deal of pressure to provide a much wider product mix and more applications, to meet the needs of users in that sphere.
Is it possible that Apple developed the whole Information Revolution all at once, and have been slowly rolling out the components one by one? Was the iTunes store envisaged right at the start? I think it is likely.
So selling OS/X is not really important to Apple – it does not fit in with their plan, however attractive, financially, it may appear in the short term.
Oh, ‘The devil made me do it’?
About time The Street noticed the trainwreck unfolding in Redmond.
Imagine the Bad Old Apple, only:
1. 100 times larger.
2. Hamstrung with 20+ years of legacy CRAP that you can’t just ditch.
3. Firmly stuck with one of the worst CEOs in business.
4. No iconic founder with a next-generation OS, ready to clean house.
(this could be a very long list…)
Seriously, is there any way to save MS short of closing it?
Apple, I hope you’re working overtime on a serious office suite, because the post-MS world is gonna need a new standard.
@tipping point
Point 4: No iconic founder.
Well, not such a problem. By the time Microsoft is ready for it, Michael Dell will have closed his own company and returned the money to the shareholders. He will then be perfectly qualified to head up Microsoft.
UBETCHA!
Actually, Weiner [aka the Longhorn they would’ve liked to release] is just as likely to </i>flop</i> as Vista because the same people are behind it, and getting older.
zachcube…sounds familiar though-
I’m curious as to what 1% of Microsoft you are holding on to?
Would it be a Mint condition sealed in box original copy of Microsoft Bob that you have framed on the wall…..
or perhaps a mere ballpoint pen with the word Microsoft that you picked up from the floor of the Moscone Center while leaving MacWorld 2002…
Or … maybe you just can’t delete the Quicktime movie of the Monkey Boy Dance…. Developers, Developers, Developers.
It really depends on how much Microsoft stuff you had to begin with – to determine how big that last 1% really is….
-WA
MMMMMMWWWWWWWAAAAAAAAA (the sound of Balmer and Gates crying).
HHHHHHHHHHUUUUUURRRRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH! (the sound of world’s IT business and companies/people M$ have screwed over the last 20yrs celebrating)
GOOD RIDDENCE SCUM.
They were on the elite list or mediocre companys.
LOL!
Worst investment in shares for the last decade = M$
“Vista and Office, as products sold either loaded onto computers or packaged in a box, may represent a mode of software sales that is becoming dated. Other means of delivering software, including over the Internet as a service, have become much more prominent in recent years.”
Well isn’t this what Apple is doing. They sell computers bundled with software or sell new boxed versions of their O/S. Although I agree with much of this analysis the aforementioned quote is too simplistic. Rather, it’s because Apple has a much larger control over what they produce. In other words Apple has an integrated business model and Microsoft has an disaggregated business plan. Putting this another way Microsoft’s business plan is like when a dog wolfs down it’s food and then throws it all up. It’s a mess and you can’t really tell what they’re trying to do.
Apple targets the areas they wish to compete in. Microsoft tries to control everything and then they scream when they end up in the courts. Microsoft business model is all over the place and I have no idea what Microsoft stands for. Apple on the other hand has a commitment to quality outcomes and puts the consumer first.
Sure it’s easy to criticise Microsoft but a more in-depth analysis would helped a lot more than making a bland statement and then expecting everyone to nod their heads like mindless puppets.