Are OEMs ruining Microsoft?

[snowmutt]

No, OEM's are not ruining Microsoft. All you have to do is look at the numbers past the shrill: PCs/Laptops STILL outsell Tablets. In 2013, only 22% of personel computing sales were tablets. (For that figure and how the tablet shares broke down, here is a link: Report: Apple's iPad Has Dominated US Tablet Sales In 2013 -- AppAdvice).

To put that another way, PCs/Laptops/Notebooks accounted for 78% of computer sales. That means what tablets sold in the ENTIRE YEAR is equal to less then 1 quarter and a half of the sales of traditional computers. (I had a hard time finding a link for a breakdown of all sales, even though I know I have seen it somewhere freaking recently.)

These are all OEM produced products. Microsoft simply isn't in a position to remove these partners from their process. More so, why would they? I think the biggest problem we have on WPC is we get lost on the consumer side of mobile, forgetting there is a reason why MS can afford to lose money on WP for 3 years, Bing for nearly a decade, and XBOX for about 6 years. They are a enterprise company, and that cannot change. Even as they start to compete in the mobile landscape, any profits they may get from all their consumer efforts, (such as XBOX games, XBOX music, and their MSN network) their other communication/cloud efforts (such as Bing which is showing a profit finally, Skydrive, and Skype) and their mobile offerings (our beloved WP and Surface products) PALE in comparison to Office, Azure, Windows software and Enterprise support products and solutions. Like "drop in the bucket" style pale in comparison. These do not happen without OEM sales and partnerships.

Even if this is a strickly Windows Phone conversation, forget it. It wasn't Microsoft that made their OS competitive in the feild. Without HTC, Windows Phone 7 never gets a second look. (For that matter, HTC was the main Windows Mobile partner as well.) Samsung put out the 2 best reviewed WP 7 and WP 7.5 devices here in the States in the original Focus and the Focus S. And it was an independent Nokia that kicked WP growth out of the sludge. Their dedication to creating excellent hardware, unique software, and getting developers onboard was nothing short of amazing. Would we have the ESPN App selections, Instagram, and dozens of games with Nokia going out and beating the bushes? Nope, not a chance.

MS needs OEMs. They need the drive, they need original thoughts, designs, promotion, and top shelf devices. A MS all by itself would be a company I wouldn't be excited to see.

 

[anony_mouse]

While OEMs were responsible for Microsoft's early success, they have been mostly responsible for much of worst of Windows for a long time.

As always, let's blame someone else!

 

[k0de]

Are you claiming that someone is deliberately trying to bring down Microsoft by installing "unstable" CEO's at OEM's?
Who is doing this? Why are they doing it?

Yes I am. This is not documented just my two cents. My speculation is that yes this a possibility.

 

[k0de]

Just a farthing? I think they are slightly more than that. Let's have a look at market capitalisation (figures from Yahoo finance, shortly before the time of this post):
Apple: USD 459.24 billion
Microsoft: USD 298.91 billion
And just for fun...
Google: USD 375.08 billion

Haha, don't believe everything that you read. Bill Gates alone over the years without giving any money away to charity is worth way more than that. Last year alone gates drop 30 billion to charity. And he still has another 75 billion to play with.

 

[jmshub]

As always, let's blame someone else!

Did you read the rest of my post at all, or feel like firing off that witty retort without bothering with the details? Yes, for all of the reasons I listed, OEMs have a part to play in the negative view of Windows by the non-tech crowd. I have three Dell PCs in my house. I think they are fine PCs and I would buy another Dell if I were in the market. But out of the box, there were several trial programs that I did not want on the PC, that aren't part of Windows. Browser toolbars, stupid trial games, links to ebay, or various other websites that Dell is paid to install on the desktop. Trial versions of crummy antivirus software. I could go on. My wife's laptop included the Dell Dock, an annoying application launcher that lives permanently at the top of the screen.

Dell is hardly the worst offender. Many people, myself included, reinstall Windows on brand new PCs to effectively remove the unwanted crap from new PCs.

I believe the reason that Microsoft started to build hardware in the first place is because they could not rely on their hardware partners to build a decent PC running Windows 8 at the time of the launch. Part of the sea change that is the Windows 8 interface is hardware that supports it. Particularly good, multitouch enabled touchscreens. The vendors instantly started peddling Windows 8 on last year's Windows 7 cheap laptops, and people found themselves not loving the experience. At least having the opportunity to use Windows 8 on a multitouch display lets people realize how Windows 8 works, and how to efficiently use the different UIs.

 

[anony_mouse]

Haha, don't believe everything that you read. Bill Gates alone over the years without giving any money away to charity is worth way more than that. Last year alone gates drop 30 billion to charity. And he still has another 75 billion to play with.

I'm pretty confident those figures are correct - they come from the stock market after all. Or have the alleged anti-Microsoft forces corrupted that (or at least Yahoo finance) as well?

 

[anony_mouse]

Yes I am. This is not documented just my two cents. My speculation is that yes this a possibility.

Well, that's certainly an interesting theory. So some person or persons (unnamed) may be trying to bring down Microsoft using the tactic of putting bad people in charge of OEMs?
Please could you speculate on who those people are, and why they might be doing this? Perhaps some militant group of very rich Apple or Linux fanboys? Are the "unstable" CEO's aware of their role, or are they just selected for their "instability"? And how do the conspirators get their "unstable" people selected to run the OEM's?

 

[k0de]

I'm pretty confident those figures are correct - they come from the stock market after all. Or have the alleged anti-Microsoft forces corrupted that (or at least Yahoo finance) as well?

That is correct. I must admit that after doing some research myself. Even though Apple that not have many products to offer that company is doing very well. MSFT has some work to do. Any how we are looking at 2017 just to complete with the to other horses on the lead. .

 

[k0de]

Well, that's certainly an interesting theory. So some person or persons (unnamed) may be trying to bring down Microsoft using the tactic of putting bad people in charge of OEMs?
Please could you speculate on who those people are, and why they might be doing this? Perhaps some militant group of very rich Apple or Linux fanboys? Are the "unstable" CEO's aware of their role, or are they just selected for their "instability"? And how do the conspirators get their "unstable" people selected to run the OEM's?

There is huge money involved in the mobile business. And where there is huge money to be made there is room for corruption. For example number one; Why on every major carrier store Windows Phones are not display properly along with the other two OS'S. They are either turn off and shoved on a corner? Isolated from the rest of Android and iPhones. That throws a red flag on my ever moving brain. Number two; the quality of Windows Phone is way better than Android and iPhones. Why then major developers and huge organizations don't make Apps for Windows Phone. That is red flag number 2. The list can go one for ever but just a few examples. If there is no faul play why have we been void cotted by the world?

 

[Premium1]

The problem with ditching OEMs is that there would be no competition in the market which would allow Microsoft/Nokia to charge whatever they want, this would mean that Microsoft would eventually be reduced to a niche company like Apple.

Agree because if there was only Nokia in the WP space, they would not make all that $$ off licensing fees of WP so that would be a huge chunk of $$ lost.

 

[xchange]

There's a good and bad side to OEMs. The good side is that if you get lucky enough to have bought a device that happens to end up being the best in class that year,.they can end up being even nicer than a macbook. The bad side is that it's often a lottery. Desktops are ok because you can pick and choose every single component, but laptops are a different story. Thankfully I don't need a laptop