Tech wrap: A bad call for Sprint?
Sprint Nextel shares fell as much as 17 percent on Tuesday as investors worried about the cost of selling the Apple Inc iPhone on top of its plans to upgrade its network and its debt obligations.
The decline followed a 10 percent dive in Sprint’s stock on Monday after a Wall Street Journal report that the money-losing company will have to pay Apple $20 billion over the next four years and will lose money on the iPhone until 2014.
Apple took the wraps off a new iPhone on Tuesday, but may have left some fans wishing for more than an updated version of last year’s smartphone. See what analysts had to say.
On the day that Apple launches the fifth generation of its ubiquitous iPhone, the once mighty Nokia is still weeks away from mounting a fightback. On Tuesday, Nokia CEO Stephen Elop promised to unveil its first Windows-based smartphones this quarter but it remains to be seen whether the they will start shipping in time for Christmas.
A new plastic-based tablet designed by a California tech company for school students is going on trial in Russia thanks to funding from the Russian state-run tech giant Rusnano, reports Reuters correspondent Sonia Legg.
FT columnist Richard Waters says Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer received only half the potential bonus he could have made this fiscal year. “While some Microsoft shareholders gripe about their CEO’s performance, they haven’t got a lot to complain about with regards to his compensation,” writes Waters, adding: “His salary and bonus totalling less than $1.4 million last year, was far short of the $15.8 million that his counterparts in peer-group companies stood to make, according to Microsoft’s calculations.”
Microsoft CFO: Likes iPad, loves Ballmer: apps? meh
Three things we learned from chatting with Microsoft CFO Peter Klein: for one, he’s a big fan of his boss, CEO Steve Ballmer, despite their contrasting interview styles (Klein is even tempered; Ballmer is famously energetic, which I’ve witnessed first hand).
Reuters: What’s it like working with Steve Ballmer? Klein: It’s awesome. He’s incredibly passionate, he cares about nothing except the success of the company. He’s incredibly smart. He knows the industry backwards and forward.
Reuters: Does he jump around and make your life hell sometimes? Klein: No, he makes my life exciting everyday. It has been fabulous. He cares so much about the company. I’m a big believer in you have to be passionate about what you are doing.
Reuters: You seem so quietly spoken versus his (electric demeanor). Klein: I think we are an awesome combination. I think the finance guy needs to be a little more measured.
Reuters: Could you someday be CEO? Klein: I haven’t thought about that. I’m trying to be the best CFO I can be. Steve is fired up and ready to come in every day.
** Two: Klein thinks the iPad, which some see as a threat to portable PCs that use Microsoft’s Windows, is, you know, okay.
anyone who thinks jumping around like a monkey is balmers natural state is quite clearly nuts
from Breakingviews:
Necessity is mother of invention at Microsoft
Microsoft has adopted a tough mantra for an age of austerity, arguing that innovation must take a back seat to cost-cutting and productivity gains when it comes to selling technology.
"Things have come down. I see them staying down and slowly growing," Steve Ballmer, Microsoft's chief executive, said today in a speech to British business leaders.
But does Microsoft's "New Efficiency" slogan describe the future of the technology industry? Or just the software giant's own subdued outlook?
In recent years, Microsoft has settled into managing mountains of cash and established customer relationships in late middle age. Its share price has also been less than dynamic, down 30 percent since the beginning of 2008.
But instead of making big bets on future growth, Ballmer contends that innovations must be funded based on their prospects for helping customers become more lean and efficient. The company recently froze funding for research at $9.5 billion -- still the world's largest such budget.
"I believe the new normal requires a new kind of efficiency built on technology innovations that enable businesses and organizations to simultaneously drive cost savings, improve productivity, and speed innovation," Ballmer argued in a manifesto published last week.
Ballmer acknowledges that the "New Efficiency" is partly a marketing message to underscore the potential productivity benefits of Microsoft's upcoming products -- the next version of its operating system Windows 7 and Exchange Server 2010.
Ballmer skeptical of Apple share gains
Never one to let an opportunity pass to tweak a competitor, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer got off a few zingers at long-time rival Apple at the software giant’s analyst meeting on Thursday.
“Share versus Apple, you know, we think we may have ticked up a little tick, but when you get right down to it, it’s a rounding error,” he said. “Apple’s share change, plus or minus from ours, they took a little share a couple quarters, we took share back a couple quarters. But Apple’s share globally cost us nothing. Now, hopefully, we will take share back from Apple, but you know, Apple still only sells about 10 million PCs, so it is a limited opportunity.”
Shipments of Apple’s Mac PCs rose 4 percent in the June quarter, while the global PC market shrank 5 percent, according to Gartner.
Ballmer also touched on the advertising war that has blossomed between Microsoft and Apple, and said the Windows ads have proven to be “quite effective”:
“Starting about two years ago, I started to get the question, what’s up with the Apple ads? It was one of the few places where I had a lot of investors pushing me to spend money as opposed to constrain the spend of money. Well, those folks ultimately won.”
Microsoft, of course, also plans to open its own chain of branded branded stores, some right next door to Apple’s outlets.
In consumer markets, Microsoft has underperformed the competition for 9 years. Any credibility that Ballmer ever had has long since evaporated.
Contrary to the prior posters, however, i don’t see Google as the saving grace. While Google and MS are desperately trying to convince consumers to house all their data on remote servers (so that MS and Google can datamine it), Apple is content to offer integrated hardware, software, and services that allow the consumer to easily manage his/her own data. Much more secure, much easier to use.
No amount of Google’s “we’re not evil!” claims and Microsoft’s “look at all the cheap hardware that uses Windows!” claims will change the fact that both companies put customer data integrity and propriety last on their list of priorities.
Bad-a-bing! Microsoft unveils new search engine
The worst-kept secret in tech was finally made public as Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer lifted the wraps off the company’s new search engine: Bing.
The revamped engine, intended to take a bite out of Google’s dominance, is being rolled out over the next few days, with a full launch next Wednesday.
Here are a few screenshots to tide you over until then.
microsoft needs to improve its login based services like google accounts. This will help to provide better search results.
Steve Ballmer’s “awesome” new Ford hybrid
Times are tough for car makers, so Ford’s CEO Alan Mulally is going the extra mile by delivering cars to customers himself.
Unfortunately you have to be CEO of a very large company to qualify. Here’s Microsoft’s Steve Ballmer taking possession of his new Ford Fusion Hybrid at the software company’s Seattle-area campus.
“This is awesome!” Ballmer declared, before climbing into the car for a quick seminar on how it works. He didn’t seem too interested in the fuel consumption figures, but said his wife insisted on a hybrid.
The car was the millionth with Ford’s SYNC system — powered by Microsoft technology — which allows you to control a phone and play music with voice commands. So people in the back seat can embarrass you by shouting “Play Abba”.
The high-octane double-act of Ballmer and Mulally — CEO pitch-men par excellence — seals an interesting alliance between Seattle and Detroit. Ford’s Mulally lived in the Seattle area in his 30-plus years at Boeing’s nearby commercial plane operations, while Ballmer’s father — who raised his family in and around Detroit — was a long-time Ford employee, starting in the company’s financing unit in 1950.
The Fusion Hybrid is beautiful. Can’t say the same for the Prius & Fit.
Microsoft’s big man on campus
Steve Ballmer knows how to pack a house.
Stanford University’s Memorial Hall was filled to its almost 2,000 capacity on Wednesday, as the voluble Microsoft CEO took the stage.
For the MBAs and engineering students who showed up, the event was a chance to get inspiration from the chief of one of the world’s most powerful corporations (and from someone who dropped out of Stanford Business School to join Microsoft). The press in attendance was mainly interested in comments Ballmer might make about Yahoo.
Indeed, with Microsoft and Yahoo reportedly in talks about a search partnership, speculation has risen in the blogosphere that Ballmer and Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz would have a sit-down during his swing through the Bay Area.
Ballmer addressed the speculation with his standard lines about Yahoo: He’s disappointed last year’s acquisition offer didn’t work out, but still thinks there’s potential to team up with Yahoo to create “a better search product” which would attract more customers and advertisers.
He declined to comment on any discussions that “may or may not” be occurring.
When it comes to Microsoft’s existing efforts in Internet search, Ballmer said the company needs to be more disruptive.
why cant i always downloadokwhy can google just cut inokwhy arent you user friendlyokwhen i go to support for help the jargon is ridiculousokmicrosoft sucksok
A Yahoo and Microsoft deal? Search me
Two days ago, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said Yahoo should team up with his company on search so they can take on Google. That’s not a new idea; after all, Ballmer’s been talking about a search deal of some sort at every public forum for months.
But then, Yahoo CFO Blake Jorgensen sent out a message loud and clear the following day, endorsing the idea of a search partnership. Yahoo is “not opposed” to doing a deal on search, he said, adding that such a deal could be in the form of a partnership or a sale of it search business. When Carol Bartz took over as Yahoo CEO last month, she said her first instinct was to hold on to search, but of course, “everything is on the table.”
So could something be brewing on that front?
Collins Stewart’s Internet analyst Sandeep Aggarwal thinks so. In a research note today, Aggarwal writes the “posturing” from both sides suggests that a search deal is in the offing:
Less than 36 hours after Microsoft’s CEO mentioned about increasing likelihood for a possible MSFT/YHOO search deal due to recent management changes at Yahoo (new CEO), yesterday Yahoo’s CFO essentially not only expressed Yahoo!’s interest in a search deal but also publicly set the stage for some possible negotiations with Microsoft. As we highlighted several times before, we continue to believe that a MSFT/YHOO search deal is very likely and appears to be a near-term event. We believe that a search deal with Microsoft can provide $8 to $10 per share lift to Yahoo.
Aggarwal even goes so far as to suggest that the next step for a possible search deal between Microsoft and Yahoo is the deal announcement itself. Do you think Ballmer and Bartz will be shaking hands soon?
Keep an eye on:
Wouldn’t the Yahoo/Microsoft search partnership be anti-competitive, reducing a two horse race to one.
Users are not forced into using Google search and yet it remains hugely popular, they simply provide a superior product and this refects in it’s market share. If Yahoo or Microsoft improved usability and added some innovative features they could claw back some market share.
Googles search dominance is often drawn as a comparison to Microsofts Windows monopoly, there is nothing stopping users switching from Google to Yahoo or elsewhere and this is an easy and quick thing to do. Additionally, Yahoo and Microsoft offer the number one and two IM Client and email services wouldnt this be further cementing a monopoly of sorts in internet services?
If such a deal where to be agreed, I would certainly see the Europeans examining this very closely, it is surely anything but a done deal. Again this seems to reduce consumer choice rather than offer any benefit. This deal is purely beneficial economically rather than to the end user in my view, Google search popularity are the fruits of it’s labour and deserved.
Google’s executive leadership team has the strategic foresight to be prepared for their future opportunities. What’s interesting, to me, is how so many other companies have been totally unprepared for this economy. It didn’t have to be that way, since most could have planned better during the good times. My point: short term thinking, by definition, lacks any meaningful foresight.
Oh Microsoft, how the times change!
1975
Microsoft (then spelled “Micro Soft”) is founded by William “Bill” Gates, a 20-year-old Harvard dropout, and Paul Allen, his 22-year-old school chum. They begin selling its first product, a BASIC programming language interpreter.
Microsoft signs an agreement to build the operating system that became known as MS-DOS for IBM’s new personal computer, which was launched in 1981. Microsoft was allowed to license the operating system to others, spawning an industry of “IBM-compatible” machines dependent on Microsoft software.
1983
February: Paul Allen, ill with Hodgkin’s disease, resigns from active management of the company but remains on the board of directors.
I’ll add to the Vista comment above.
The Microsoft people who had a hand in it deserve to go.
What were these folks thinking?
Heads should roll for such a flop.
