“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.]
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