Once the gold standard for both the consumer and business markets, the once-mighty Microsoft appears so vulnerable that observers seem to feel something never before associated with the Seattle based giant—pity.
Rather than offer a response to the now standard iPad, Microsoft offered only half-constructed computers at the technology industry’s premier show. Microsoft offered the news that the newest version of Windows would run on cell phone chips that power the iPad and other tables. But if the power of this demonstration was in the presentation then Microsoft was the kid that got no help from its parents at the grade school diorama display. Microsoft demonstrations at the 2011 International Consumer Electronics Show consisted of half-built computers working with cell phone chips. The software displayed appeared to be identical to Windows 7.
The display and Microsoft’s lack of a tablet offered another warning that Microsoft’s future remains uncertain. There is already doubt that Microsoft will be able to become a serious player in the rapidly expanding tablet market. Without a share in this market, Microsoft will not longer be able to lay claim to unquestioned dominance of the personal computer market. Consumer preferences seem to be shifting towards the easily portable devices.
The news surrounding Microsoft was not ideal, but it was not all doom and gloom. Microsoft issued the successful Kinect in 2010. The motion sensor controller for the Xbox 360 racked up more than $1 billion in sales in only two months. Microsoft also issued the successful Windows 7.
Despite these successes, Microsoft’s slump can be seen in its stock prices. The company’s stock has stayed between about $20 to $30 for the last 10 years. Since the iPhone debuted in 2007, Apple stock has more than tripled.
Microsoft can only hope that its next operating system works on devices that do not require a mouse and keyboard to use.