Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer “had plenty to say—particularly in response to shareholder questions about Macs, Windows, and the company’s struggle to regain its footing in the market for mobile phones,” Todd Bishop reports for Portfolio.
“One shareholder told Ballmer that he believes Microsoft has a poor reputation compared with Apple among younger computer users, and particularly college students. ‘I’m just wondering why your marketing group can’t do something to try to rein in this next generation, because you’ve got a real bad image out there,’ the shareholder said, saying that Apple’s ads make the Redmond company look ‘like a buffoon,'” Bishop reports.
MacDailyNews Take: As if Microsoft’s choice of an actual buffoon for CEO hasn’t had any impact whatsoever.
“[Ballmer said] ‘There’s certainly always opportunities for improvement,’ acknowledging that there ‘is a group of people with whom our market share is less,'” Bishop reports. “[Ballmer said ‘]It is important to remember that 96 times out of 100 worldwide, people choose a PC with Windows, that’s a good thing. Even in the toughest market, which would be the high end of the consumer market here in the U.S., 83 times out of 100 people choose a Windows PC over a Mac.’ He added, ‘We’re working hard on it. Windows 7 I think gives us a real opportunity to come back again at some audiences that have been tougher for us. Frankly, the economy is good for us, because people do understand that Macintoshes are quite a bit more expensive for essentially the same computer…but we have opportunities to improve among exactly the constituency that you identify.'”
MacDailyNews Take: “Essentially the same computer?” Ballmer can’t really believe that, can he?
Bishop reports, “Later, another shareholder asked why Microsoft and Nokia don’t team up to try to topple the iPhone and fend off Google’s Android. Ballmer focused initially on the latter, saying he’s dedicated to keeping higher market share than the new Google mobile operating system.”
MacDailyNews Take: At least Ballmer T. Clown understands that “toppling iPhone” is an unrealistic goal.
Bishop reports, “[Ballmer said] ‘I think we’re on the right strategy, which is to focus on the software that goes into phones, as opposed to building phones.'”
MacDailyNews Take: He “thinks.” He still likes his strategy. He likes it a lot. May Steve Ballmer remain Microsoft CEO (and may MSFT shareholders remain clueless) for as long as it takes!
Full article here.
“… people do understand that Macintoshes are quite a bit more expensive for essentially the same computer…”
If you believe that, you deserve what you get.
83 of 100 people in the premium U.S. Market choose a Windows PC? Yet Apple gets 91% of the profit from that segment? The math isn’t adding up.
Got that right MDN!
The old maxim holds true “Turnover is vanity, profit is sanity”
Cheers,
Tim
This Ballmer guy needs help immediately!!! Living in denial for more than 5 years is something to worry about. Shareholders and/or board doing nothing about it is also very strange. Group therapy is in order here.
Maybe… Hopefully not.
Agree. May Ballmer stay as long as it takes.
If MSFT has basically moved sideways in a decade, shouldn’t these investors take their money out and put it in something with a better track record???
That’s right, just keep harping on those 96 out of 100, 83 out of 100 numbers… nevermind that those customers aren’t actually “choosing” Windows. More often than not, they “choose” a computer based on hardware specs, which just happens to come with Windows preinstalled. In fact, that’s exactly the scenario Microsoft themselves painted in their Laptop Hunter ads.
And for many of them, they’re choosing a computer that will be used primarily to access the internet. Based on the forthcoming Chrome OS, Microsoft’s going to start getting squeezed out of the bottom of the market by Google, along with Apple squeezing them out of the top. I wonder if the MS shareholders realize the nature of the coming threat.
Ah well… for as long as it takes!
What? Shareholders want Ballmer to build Windows Phones? And get another 50% with the Ring of Death?
“96 times out of 100 worldwide, people choose a PC with Windows”
More often than not, people get a PC with Windows because they are just plain ignorant of something better. They are not “choosing” they are “blindly following”.
Ah yes, Microsoft, constantly worried about what Apple is doing. The shareholders should be more concerned about MS finding it’s own direction, developing it’s own excellence (har har) and working on products that can re-define the company’s future. Being a “me too” and throwing money at the problem in the form of advertising, marketing and rebranding while trying to fool the customer into thinking MS makes cool stuff. Stop worrying about what Apple is doing. Fire your executive staff, break up the company into smaller divisions, and let the coders and engineers run the company.
“Microsoft CEO Ballmer grilled….”
No thanks, I am trying to cut back on fat……
FOCUS! FOCUS! FOCUS!
How many years has this crap fallen from those lips? And yet they all still seem to buy into it. The biggest problem is their monopoly position doesn’t give them the security anymore. They can’t get away with Windows only technology and have people buy into it. Look how screwed all those companies are that decided to jump onto IE6 and write web-based applications around it. They’re stuck in the past. Or those others that decided to use Microsoft’s PlaysForSure. They are all but dead. Even the stagnation of the entire computer market that centered around one OS, Windows. They lost potential upgrade sales due to the lack of inspiring software released out of Redmond. If you don’t create the software to push the hardware, then the hardware doesn’t move.
And I’m not saying Apple is the answer. They should’ve looked for open alternatives that could be sustained and supported by more than just one company. And that’s exactly what is happening today in the smartphone market. Microsoft becomes the big loser. If you fail to move forward and advance, you only keep those willing to stay behind with you. New generations are always looking for the next thing and will inevitably move on without you.
I thought it was something like 80% of sales of the ‘Premium’ computer market (say, systems costing $999 and above) were Apple machines?
Or does this wishful thinking show us Balmer secretly ‘thinks’ he’s in charge of Apple..?
@ Tommy Boy
It’s a rounding error
Steve Ballmer is to Microsoft as Barack Obama is to the United States of America: Poison!
@Josh
Amen to that brother.
“Ballmer grilled”
and his smile looks so much better!
Could we please keep all political references of the mac boards? Seriously, if you want to say bad things about the president I suggest you post something over at Fox news as you’ll have plenty of friends to agree with you. However, since this is a tech web site let’s keep the commentary along those same lines.
The King has no clothes, the King has no clothes.
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Microsoft’s Board of Directors could have been added in the last take.
Traveling throughout Mexico (which is on the upper tier of third-world nations), seeing a MAC is extremely rare. Internet cafes or simply “cyber” will get you a bank of cobbled-together machines running Win-Doze, and the populace has never even heard of MAC, iPhone or OSX. When the numbers are being touted (83 out of 100 times), this may not be the general computer purchasing population out there.
Woo-woo, Win-Doz is #1 in Mexico, where the minimum-wage is $53/MX per day ($4.07 USD), try compiling statistics relating to average household income, ie; US, UK & Western Europe, Japan and the Pacific Rim… I think you’ll see quite a different story.
@ roy
“Fire your executive staff, break up the company into smaller divisions, and let the coders and engineers run the company.”
Having personally been through this scenerio, let me assure you it isn’t the answer either. Engineers and coders should stick to what they are good at, coding and engineering. What is really needed is symmetry between the management/sales/marketing/design/engineering sides. Everyone on the same page working toward the same goals with a common unified goal. I’ve seen many a software/tech services company fold because the coders were trying to do it all. I’ve also seen companies fold because sales and management doesn’t understand the coding/engineering side and over-promise and under-deliver. It is a double edged sword..
Microsoft has lost it’s clout. The no longer instill the fear it the once did to there smaller “partners”. They have competition heating up in every front. There focus on enterprise has clouded there vision for a sustainable strategy. I give them 5 more years of dominance, if that. By 2015 we will see a much weaker, less wealthier Microsoft. Just like that one shareholder stated, collage kids are choosing Apple, and this dumb-ass CEO can’t see this as a dangerous trend?
Everybody around me is ether upgrading to a Mac, or buying an iPhone. If Apple could get games titles on the Macintosh, you would not have a reason to buy a PC. The only thing they are good for is 3D, and 3D is only mainstream in gaming. If Apple could fix this by providing better OpenGL drivers and backing game development, Microsoft would not have a leg to stand on.
As if Microsoft’s choice of an actual buffoon for CEO hasn’t had any impact whatsoever.
Truer words have yet to be written on the subject of buffoons and upper management at M$!