Word: microsoft
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...Microsoft (MSFT) has never had much success in the businesses of creating and marketing hardware. Why should it? Microsoft is the world's largest software company. The firm has tried to become the GE of technology for over a decade; a conglomerate in several loosely related businesses that support one another even if that support is only tangential...
...Intelligence often breeds ambition, and this combination has harmed Microsoft. It has an over-abundance of smart people who have far too little to do. The company's core software divisions require a large number of software engineers and product development staff, but these people are primarily updating products in Microsoft's PC, server, and office Windows products. There may be some innovation in the creation of new versions of these offerings, but a great deal of the work is the equivalent of maintenance. (See pictures of Bill Gates: The Early Years...
...Microsoft's efforts to expand fall primarily into two businesses. One is online content and search and the other is the development hardware devices. The company has not been able to duplicate the level of success that it has had in its software operations. The list of stories about Microsoft's failure to make progress in the search engine business stretches on and on. Not quite as well-chronicled are Microsoft's efforts to compete in the video game and portable multimedia player business. The Xbox has only started to make money recently and the margins are small...
...Microsoft tried to get part of the portable media player business from the Apple (AAPL) iPod. It launched its Zune product and after an initial marketing push, the product is still available but posting only modest sales. Microsoft now wants another piece of Apple's success. It apparently is in talks to launch a smartphone with Verizon (VZ), which competes with AT&T (T). AT&T has the exclusive sales franchise for the Apple iPhone in the U.S., so, in theory, Microsoft and Verizon would each benefit from creating competition for one of the most successful cell phones in history...
...federal government will own large, and in some cases, controlling interests, in two car companies and several major banks. There is a chance the the extent of rescue efforts and government ownership could move to auto parts suppliers and insurance companies. If the Treasury can pick up stock in Microsoft (MSFT) and Intel (INTC), it can control most of the important sectors of the economy. That raises the issue of how the federal government gets all of that taxpayer money back...