Posted on 10/25/2010 7:35:46 AM PDT by WebFocus
Wall Street continues to run away from Microsoft.
Today, it's David Hilal at FBR that's cutting Microsoft, downgrading the company, Marketwatch Reports.
He cites the common concerns of slowing PC-growth, and exploding growth of the iPad, and tablets. Hilal has the stock at a "market perform" rating, which seems to mean it's just going to be flat for a while.
FBR is joining Goldman, Janney Capital, and Barclays, who have all cut Microsoft's rating this month. All for the same basic reasons.
Microsoft's stock has been flat to down for the last ten years, nice of the Street's analysts to finally speak up.
Microsoft bulls still have a case to make. The PC business isn't going anywhere soon. Xbox Kinect could be a killer. And Windows Phone 7 could become a big business. (Ballmer thinks it generates $1 billion, eventually.)
That said, it doesn't matter what happens with Microsoft's business. It has grown a number of businesses over the last 10 years and investors could care less.
(Excerpt) Read more at businessinsider.com ...
What can Microsfot do?
they make shitty software and what can they release any more?
ANOTHER new operating systems or software upgrade that does nothing but at ribbons and docking for $200? (”Windows 8- Now with Curtains! (on sale now for $230)”
Microsoft Office peaked in 2003 - and should have been left alone
I hate hate hate that ribbon bar you can’t turn off- I cant find anything and it wastes the upper third of my laptop screen with commands I never want to use
Maybe they need Al Gore on the Board of Directors so they can get some government constracts again.
"It's time we made a product that doesn't suck" says Steve Ballmer.
A tipping point is coming, especially in the home market. People are just so tired of Windows and all the malware crap that goes with it. OS X is growing and growing in market share and I think that will just accelerate. As Apple’s market share rises, the application developers are coming along with it and producing some real positive feedback.
It’s going to be a lot easier to go from 10 percent to 20 percent share than it was to go from 5 to 10 percent. And from 20 percent to 40 percent and then an outright majority will take even less time.
Microsoft makes commodity products. They do not have ground-breaking products (at the product level, at least) and their market segment is generally the low-end consumer market.
Even if that were stable (and it’s not — tablets are going to eat into the low-end computer market), it’s not as if Microsoft was poised for any large growth in the foreseeable future.
RE: It’s going to be a lot easier to go from 10 percent to 20 percent share than it was to go from 5 to 10 percent. And from 20 percent to 40 percent and then an outright majority will take even less time.
If the above is true, this will have great implications for software developers... especially those who have taken so much time and man-years trying to master the Microsoft .NET technology Framework which is intimately tied to the Windows OS.
Lots of Microsoft Developers will have to start considering shifting their mastery to Apple’s applications and OS or look for other type of employment.
When your major products (1) already have saturation market share, (2) never wear out, and (3) can easily be pirated, it’s hard to see a lot of growth on the horizon.
MSFT is a dividend cash machine. This is an opportunity to buy its shares and sit on them. With bonds and CDs paying less than 2 per cent, MSFT is a good place to park some money. This is a personal opinion and not investment advice.
For consumer market developers, maybe. They can always turn their skills to developing for the enterprise market.
Microsoft: The Yugo of operating systems.
The company started with trash.
They made more trash.
And to tell the truth, their newest trash is somewhat less trashy than their previous trash.
In any case, my time spent at work convinces me more and more that the wife and my decision to make our home a microsoft-free environment (2 Linux, 4 Macs) was a good one. No crashes - ever. No rebuilds - ever.
May the flies of a thousand camels come to rest in the beer of EVERYONE who has EVER worked for that awful incompetent and slimy company.
Oh, I get my Verizon IPAD on Friday.
At 2.5% hardly. Buy Altria for about the same price and get a 6%+ dividend.
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