Microsoft CEO Ballmer not worried about Apple's market cap

Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
After Apple's market cap exceeded rival Microsoft on Wall Street this week, the chief executive of the Windows maker, Steve Ballmer, noted that his company still rakes in more profits than anyone else in the technology business.



Ballmer was in New Delhi, India, on Thursday when reporters asked him about Apple's milestone, in which the Mac maker exceeded Microsoft in terms of market capitalization, making it the largest technology company in the world. According to The Wall Street Journal, the Microsoft CEO dismissed those questions.



"I will make more profits and certainly there is no technology company in the planet which is as profitable as we are," Ballmer said. "Stock markets will take care of the rest."



In the first quarter of calendar 2010, Microsoft had a net profit of $4.01 billion, from revenue of $14.5 billion. Apple, on the other hand earned $3.07 billion in profit during the same period, on revenue of $13.5 billion.



Ballmer told reporters he is more interested in launching new products and improving profitability than he is the market capitalization of his company with respect to Apple.



"We are executing very well," the chief executive said. "That's going to lead to great products and great success."



The market value of Microsoft has decreased from $556 billion in January of 2000, when Ballmer took over for Bill Gates as CEO, to $219 billion on Wednesday. In the same timeframe, Apple's market value has grown from $15.6 billion to $221 billion after the closing bell Wednesday.



"It's a long game," Ballmer was quoted as saying. "We have good competitors... We, too, are very good competitors."



Microsoft's market cap versus Apple. Source: The New York Times.



The Journal made no mention of a rumor that Ballmer could speak at Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference keynote on June 7. The claim was made this week by analyst Trip Chowdhry with Global Equities Research.



Ballmer in years past has caught the ire of Apple supporters, as the Microsoft executive has repeatedly dismissed the growth of the Mac platform as a "rounding error." Last July, he said gaining share from the roughly 10 million computers Apple sells a year is a "limited opportunity."



Of late, the CEO has been more complimentary of Apple. In a speech he made in March, he praised his rival for the creation of the App Store, which delivers software to the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 105
    Maybe the MS Head of WinMobile 7 should have been more worried about Apple...same with the other MS Div. Head that was fired. He should have been more worried too!





    Any CEO of any tech company, media/entertainment company that is not onboard with the largest tech company in the world and the second largest of any company needs to have their head looked at.



    Balmer may not be worried but everyone else should be.
  • Reply 2 of 105
    If Ballmer were on the Titanic, he'd deny it was sinking, claim "in fact" it will reach New York in half the time, while adding passengers along the way.
  • Reply 3 of 105
    anantksundaramanantksundaram Posts: 20,403member
    Any CEO should know that value is not only a function of current profit ('performance') but also the market's expectation of growth in future profits ('perception').



    Any good CEO should worry about both.



    MSFT does very well with the former, from its legacy businesses. It is the latter, the value from future growth opportunities, that seems to be their problem. (That is also why their PE ratio -- esp. The Forward PE ratio -- is so low for its being a tech company). It's not rocket science.
  • Reply 4 of 105
    anonymouseanonymouse Posts: 6,857member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AppleInsider View Post


    The market value of Microsoft has decreased from $556 billion in January of 2000, when Ballmer took over for Bill Gates as CEO, to $219 billion on Wednesday. In the same timeframe, Apple's market value has grown from $15.6 billion to $221 billion after the closing bell Wednesday.



    I wonder what those numbers look like when adjusted for inflation?



    EDIT: Although, to be fair to Microsoft, they will just become the new IBM, a company that continues to rake in significant profits, but isn't really a factor in the deciding the future of technology.
  • Reply 5 of 105
    rot'napplerot'napple Posts: 1,839member
    What's worrying going to do for Ballmer except give him "worry lines" in his face and he's got enough already.



    Not worried... The Titanic wasn't worried about icebergs. Until...



    The city of Chicago wasn't worried about any great fires. Until...



    The city of San Francisco wasn't worried about earthquakes. Until...
  • Reply 6 of 105
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Rot'nApple View Post


    What's worrying going to do for Ballmer except give him "worry lines" in his face and he's got enough already.



    Not worried... The Titanic wasn't worried about icebergs. Until...



    The city of Chicago wasn't worried about any great fires. Until...



    The city of San Francisco wasn't worried about earthquakes. Until...



    Hahahahaha. Awesome. Rounding error my better half.
  • Reply 7 of 105
    blastdoorblastdoor Posts: 3,258member
    I wonder what he'll say when Apple's profits surpass Microsoft's....
  • Reply 8 of 105
    appdevappdev Posts: 61member
    With the exploding success of the iPad and the continued growth of the iPhone I suspect that Apple might also pass Microsoft in the profits category soon.
  • Reply 9 of 105
    cgc0202cgc0202 Posts: 624member
    Quote:

    "I will make more profits and certainly there is no technology company in the planet which is as profitable as we are," Ballmer said. "Stock markets will take care of the rest."



    In the first quarter of calendar 2010, Microsoft had a net profit of $4.01 billion, from revenue of $14.5 billion. Apple, on the other hand earned $3.07 billion in profit during the same period, on revenue of $13.5 billion.



    The market valuation aside, these words from Ballmer brings to mind the discussion about marketshare vs. profitability in the smartphone threads.



    Quote:

    "We are executing very well," the chief executive said. "That's going to lead to great products and great success."



    Hmm. This mantra is reminiscent of his stock response after mocking the iPhone in 2007. The terrible fate of Microsoft is that its Windows Phone 7 would likely nosedive further. It is unlikely that phone manufacturers would pay $5-18 per phone, if they can have the Android OS for free.





    CGC
  • Reply 10 of 105
    appdevappdev Posts: 61member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Blastdoor View Post


    I wonder what he'll say when Apple's profits surpass Microsoft's....



    I suspect they will say that their future looks bright with Windows Phone 7, and ... um, what else do they have to be excited about? \
  • Reply 11 of 105
    dr millmossdr millmoss Posts: 5,403member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Steve Ballmer View Post


    "I will make more profits and certainly there is no technology company in the planet which is as profitable as we are," Ballmer said. "Stock markets will take care of the rest."



    If was a MSFT stockholder, this kind of remark from my CEO would worry the crap out of me -- the markets already having "taken care" of over 50% of their stock valuation.
  • Reply 12 of 105
    I can certainly see how as the CEO he has to be the top cheerleader too. But his comments and choice of words..come back to haunt him so often. Now he just seems a little out of touch!\
  • Reply 13 of 105
    mystigomystigo Posts: 183member
    "Ballmer told reporters he is more interested in launching new products and improving profitability"



    New products isn't the same as better products. Improving profitability won't lead to better products either.



    I question his vision \
  • Reply 14 of 105
    dr millmossdr millmoss Posts: 5,403member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by christopher126 View Post


    I can certainly see how as the CEO he has to be the top cheerleader too. But his comments and choice of words..come back to haunt him so often. Now he just seems a little out of touch!\



    Was he ever in touch?
  • Reply 15 of 105
    bartfatbartfat Posts: 434member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by jeffreytgilbert View Post


    Hahahahaha. Awesome. Rounding error my better half.



    LOL. I remember that comment by him, saying Apple was a rounding error. Does this now mean his company is a rounding error?



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Blastdoor View Post


    I wonder what he'll say when Apple's profits surpass Microsoft's....



    Say that his company makes more profit per dollar revenue than any other company on the planet?
  • Reply 16 of 105
    applestudapplestud Posts: 367member
    apple = bag of hurt for microsoft
  • Reply 17 of 105
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Dr Millmoss View Post


    Was he ever in touch?



    It certainly is damning when he took over 10 years ago MS' Market Cap was $500+Billion and now it's less than half that! Wow!



    Best
  • Reply 18 of 105
    kovichkovich Posts: 43member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by roehlstation View Post


    If Ballmer were on the Titanic, he'd deny it was sinking, claim "in fact" it will reach New York in half the time, while adding passengers along the way.



    If he were on Titanic he would say: don't worry, just switch off the engines and switch them on again and everything will be okay.





    Okay.... I know it's an old joke but they are the best (sometimes)
  • Reply 19 of 105
    kent909kent909 Posts: 731member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by christopher126 View Post


    I can certainly see how as the CEO he has to be the top cheerleader too. But his comments and choice of words..come back to haunt him so often. Now he just seems a little out of touch!\



    Does he even need to be in touch. What is the worst that can happen. He gets fired and has to go live off of his billions in wealth. I guess when you have that much money you can say any stupid thing you want.
  • Reply 20 of 105
    pmzpmz Posts: 3,433member
    Convergence of Markets, is the only thing Microsoft needs to be worried about.



    If I were a MS shareholder, I would be greatly concerned about MS recent efforts to "me too" some of Apple's most successful ventures. To me, this means that they are aware that convergence of previously separate markets is occurring, and instead of getting out ahead, are following far behind Apple.



    Microsoft could still be innovating to keep some of its markets afloat, but we haven't seen much evidence of such an effort.
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