Posted on 02/15/2007 4:48:38 PM PST by Sub-Driver
Ballmer delivers sobering message at Microsoft event By John Letzing, MarketWatch Last Update: 6:20 PM ET Feb 15, 2007
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Microsoft Corp. Chief Executive Steve Ballmer tempered the expectations of analysts at an event Thursday, telling them their predictions for sales of the company's new operating system are too high, while those for its operating expenses may be too low.
The New York event was held by Microsoft (MSFT Microsoft Corporation to lend insight into the company's strategy for its fiscal 2008 beginning in July. Without offering a specific differing forecast, Ballmer told assembled analysts their estimates for 2008 sales of the new Windows operating system, called Vista, are too high.
"The thing people forget is a new Windows release is a chance to sustain the revenue we have, every new Windows release is not necessarily a huge revenue opportunity," Ballmer said, adding that, "people are a little bit over optimistic, or more optimistic than we are about Windows revenue."
The consumer version of Vista was released in late January, following a release to businesses in November. Microsoft deferred roughly $1.6 billion in Vista-related revenue from its third quarter into its fourth quarter of 2007, resulting from delayed recognition of holiday sales.
In fiscal 2008, however, Ballmer said "non-corporate upgrades" to Vista will not increase at a dramatic pace, following "such a large surge after the release." Ballmer cited software piracy in some emerging markets as at least part of the reason for slower Vista sales. "Chips don't get stolen in some of these countries and software does," Ballmer said.
(Excerpt) Read more at marketwatch.com ...
Nothing I've read about VISTA makes me want to run out and buy it.
The features include putting all media within a click or two. Big deal. Free add-ons to XP can do the same.
The features include trying to restrict media from running unless it passes VISTA approval.
Per some beta reports, VISTA would sometimes go bonkers and identify legal software and hardware as being illegal, and thus block it from operating.
And all this for the low price of $99 for the VISTA Home Basic and upwards of $350 for the Ultimate version.
[I'll stick with XP at least until the release of VISTA SP1.]
This is corporate speak for "our latest release has flopped."
Ugh...I just switched from Win98 to Xp just 12 months ago when I built my new computer. For all those years 98 worked just fine for me. It's gonna be quite some time before I load this nightmare known as Vista on my computer.
But it's not selling too well as an upgrade. More upgrades for XP are getting sold than for Vista.
Note that new PC sales may have been depressed - I have heard of anecdotal evidence that Circuit City etc. allowed XP-based systems to sell out and to have little to no stock around, until the Vista-installed systems came thru the pipeline.
I attended a Microsoft Vista/Office 2007 Launch Event today, and was surprised at how they pushed Vista's eye candy on an IT/developer audience.
There are so many images and videos spinning, carouseling, and moving around the desktop that you'd need to take Dramamine to prevent motion sickness.
More anecdotal... but observed by me, first hand. The Costco in Stockton, CA, stopped bringing in PCs two months before Vista's release and allowed their stock to complete deplete. From mid December to January 30, they were completely out of PCs. They restocked with machines for Vista's release... no XP computers to be found.
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