Word: productivity
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...have certainly made sacrifices recently as they trim wages and benefits to help make their employers more competitive and to save their jobs. That's part of the normal - and sometimes painful - give and take between employer and employee as companies seek to keep their workforce happy and their product pricing competitive. But when employee concessions become a currency equal in value - or even exceeding - the rights of bondholders, as it did in these latest negotiations, realism is replaced with hopeful illusions...
...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 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...
...Where does that leave Microsoft? It now endlessly invents new products in the hope of breaking away from its reliance on its original software businesses. The company's forays into hardware have been expensive and have not produced a breakthrough product. Its search engine business ranks No.3 in the market and there is no evidence that is going to improve...
...Microsoft's future may not be in its new phone or its new search technology or anything the public is aware of now. The next product that comes from the company's ingenuity may be hidden from the eyes of Microsoft's customers and investors. The odds of that product being successful may only be 100-to-1. That has not seemed to deter the company one bit. Microsoft repeatedly launches new products and initiatives that fail. And, that is Microsoft's strength. It may be a huge company and in the world of technology...