Posted on 07/30/2009 11:59:33 PM PDT by Swordmaker
Ballmer expects Windows 7 to grab share from Apple In a bullish presentation to financial analysts today, Steve Ballmer promised Windows 7 PCs that would 'overturn the conventional wisdom that Apple has the coolest hardware'.
He also described Apple's impact on Microsoft sales this year as 'a rounding error', saying that; "Apple's share globally costs us nothing."
"Hopefully we will take share back from Apple," said Ballmer, "But they sell only about 10 million computers globally so it's a limited opportunity."
Taking a bite out of Apple
Ballmer said that research data showed that Microsoft adverts targetting Apple's prices were working, claiming that three times as many 18-24 year olds now think that Microsoft represents better value than Apple - a reverse of the situation before the commercials ran.
"We don't believe in coming to market like Apple - high margin, high quality, high price. We believe in high volume and low price," Ballmer told the Microsoft Financial Analyst Meeting. "Investors are pushing us to spend more money on this marketing."
Ballmer also released the latest data on Windows 7: 8 million copies of the release candidate have been downloaded; half of IT managers plan to upgrade to Windows 7 'as soon as it's available'; and 80 per cent intend to move within 30 months.
The Microsoft boss revealed a change in pricing strategy for Windows 7 in developing countries: "We did a programme to cut the price of Windows in emerging markets. The theory was that lower prices would lead to higher attach rates and higher revenues. That theory was wrong, so for Windows 7 we'll readjust those prices north."
He also had a few words to say about open source rivals, noting that: "It's hard to build ecosystem momentum with a chaotic operating system like Linux," and gloating over expected delays to Android-based netbooks.
Me too .The new i Mac is an amazing machine with an amazting OS. Ill never go back to a PC
Agreed. And don’t forget all the time saved by not having to perform the myriad of maintenances Windows requires and the constant costs and upgrading of antivirus software.
I disagree. I predict that both Apple and Microsoft will sell more product next year. It's kind of difficult to compare because Apple is a hardware company and Microsoft isn't.
Apple will continue with their market niche. There is plenty of room for high-end (Apple), mid-range (MS), and bargain basement (Linux, etc.) software and hardware.
Kia is doing well, as is Ferrari.
Yes- go for the Mac Mini. I love mine!
My main desktop PC (for home business) is also running XP3 with Dual-Core & 4MB memory. I'm sure W7 would work just fine on the desktop but lots of XP software including Office 2003 and my web software Frontpage 2003 that also uses a template.
From the demographic that gave us Obonga.................
MacMall sends me constant emails. I send them money!
Microsoft makes only software -- but promises cooler hardware...
The above is like an engine maker saying,
"We're coming out with an improved engine that will fit right into existing cars. In the future, cars that are made using it will be cooler than competitors' cars."
Something is delusional about that statement: Microsoft does not control the design of computer hardware that uses its OS offerings. Apple, OTOH, does.
Ballmer is just as believable a huckster as Øbama...
Most 18-24 year olds are still waiting tables during the summer and should be in school. Of course it’s a better “value” to them. That doesn’t mean they are going to by a PC laptop if given the choice. ;)
I'd like to see it (no sarcasm). I've seen it tried but never successfully. They rip-off Apple's designs with inferior results, and attempts at original designs usually turn out horribly wrong. They have a few things standing in their way
"Apple's share globally costs us nothing."
Millions of units sold a $100+ per unit isn't pocket change unless you're the government. Plus the iPhone has put Windows Mobile on the back burner playing catch-up. The iPhone's web market is 66% and rising while Windows Mobile is below 7% and dropping.
Wow - is 30 months now considered the public release beta period for new releases of Windows? That is pretty sad.
But then he'd be lying.
Adjust the prices even lower south for a lower powered version of Win 7 for the much poorer developing countries
Yes, sometimes they forget the fact that they're competing with free on the low end. Add to that the fact that many developing countries don't give a crap about copyright, so most of the copies of Windows will be unlicensed anyway. They need to give a better value for the money, added value above the competition for that market.
The biggest improvements are under the hood, which is what Windows needed most.
Rewind a few years and you could substitute "Windows Vista" for "Windows 7". The exact same comments were being made then as now.
While I am a Mac and fan, I don't wish bad on Windows users and upgraders. In my work environment, we have had umpteen issues with the Windows machines - and none with my mac on the job. But the real issue - when one of the Windows machines goes wonky - it causes troubles for all.
emphasis added.
It's telling that Balmer uses the term "High Quality" when referring to Apple, but makes no mention of quality on his own product. And then tells us that his investors want more money put into "marketing" rather than engineering and quality of their product.
I've been trying out W7-RC in a VM on my machine, and I will say it's a damn sight better than that vista crap. But then again, they only had one direction they could go from there.
Same reason it was very foolish of President Bush to sit quietly and not hit back as the MSM and the Dims continued to try and define him as pure eviland de-legitimize his presidency by constant attacks on him till his poll numbers went down the carper for good.
Already, more 18-24 year olds now think that Windows PC's represents better value than the mac, which is the direct reverse of the situation before the ads ran.
“The ads make no sense.”
They make plenty of sense to me.
“They are helping to give mindshare to what to MS is essentially an insignificant competitor”
That "insignificant competitor" already has more mind share than nearly any other company on the planet. Just look at the amount of publicity they get at tech sites and in the news, which is out of all proportion to their market share on the world's desktops. Plus this competitor was busy doing everything in their power to de-legitimize and permanently damage Windows in the minds of the public. It was aboslutely essential to hit back and hit back hard. Microsoft has been very foolish in letting this nonsense go on for so long without hitting back at Apple. That's why at the investor’;s conference yesterday, most of the analysts and investors demanded that Microsoft continue with this anti-Apple ads. It's a no brainer in my book.
“Very few other companies are as dominant in a market as MS is, but how many other dominant players do you see mentioning the competition who has next to no market share”
Very few companies with such small market share as Apple, have the massive mind share that Apple has.
Different situation, different approach.
I’ve been using Windows 7 on three machines. Bottom line: It’s Windows, but with enough cosmetic changes to stymie a good portion of its users. (For example, try to find “Add or Remove Programs” in the Control Panel.) It still needs to be frequently rebooted. It still fragments its disk. It is, however, less annoying than Vista, and less of a resource hog. And it is more secure and less prone to contagion than XP, which really needs to go away. I hope a lot of people switch. But it’s not a Mac, not by a long shot. No Spaces capability, no Time Machine, no bulletproof file system, no well-thought-out and highly consistent user interface. An improvement, but Ballmer is doing what he does best: blowing smoke and bombast.
Exactly what Apple designs are these that Apple actually invented that Microsoft has “ripped off”?
It's been argued on some internet sites a few years back, that Vista had some features that appeared first in Vista before they appeared in OS X.
“Millions of units sold a $100+ per unit isn't pocket change unless you're the government. “
At an approximate $50 per copy for OEM’s, and just over 10 million units of macs sold per year, that would make not that much more than $500 Million per year for Microsoft, which is not that much as compared to Microsoft's $60 billion in revenue last year. To put it in perspective, it would only increase quarterly revenues by about $150 million. That is not exactlty going to turn the world upside down is it?
“The new i Mac is an amazing machine with an amazting OS. Ill never go back to a PC”
Funny. I have one and I haven’t even turned it on in four months. My XP and Linux machines get used every day.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.