Microsoft rewrites 10K filing to depict Apple as significant competitor
Microsoft revamped this year's 10K filing with the Securities Exchange Commission to remove mention of Linux, Mozilla and Opera as significant competitors and amplify the role of Apple as a competitor in both software and online services.
The new filing, detailed by Windows enthusiast Ed Bott of ZDNet, completely erases mention of the Linux operating system as a competitor to Windows.
Instead, the company now states that it is "mainly" Apple and Google who offer "various commercial software products that compete" with Windows. Last year, Microsoft cited various competitors "including" Apple and Google.
Microsoft has also changed its description of alternative platforms that compete against Windows, greatly deemphasizing the threat of web browsers that were once the company's top competitive priority. Even last year, the company listed Apple, Google, Mozilla and Opera as offering software that "competes with the web browsing capabilities of Internet Explorer," which the company described as "a component of the Windows operation system."
All of that verbiage is now gone, reflecting tremendous shifts that have occurred in the tech industry, both in the erosion of Internet Explorer's share of web use as well as in the shrinking role of PCs in general as people move to mobile devices.
World gone mobile
Microsoft doesn't mention smartphones or the iPad specifically, but does remove two key words that indicate how much mobile devices have changed its competitive landscape.
First, the removal of the word "new" before "devices" that compete with Windows indicates that Microsoft now sees mobile devices as being a mainstream phenomenon, rather than an approaching trend.
Secondly, the company struck the word "consumer" from its acknowledgment of the risk of reduced demand for PCs, indicating that mobile devices are now making great strides in the enterprise as well, not just within consumer markets.
Microsoft continues to note that "user and usage volumes on mobile devices are increasing worldwide relative to the PC," indicating that devices like the iPad, which can perform a variety of web and app functions, are far more of a significant threat to the company's business than alternative web browsers running on PCs.
Apple online services get a new mention
The company also added Apple in front of Google and Yahoo as competitors to its "Windows Live software and services," a remarkable shift given the general lack of respect the industry has accorded Apple's MobileMe services.
Microsoft is clearly recognizing Apple as a prominent supplier of online services, particularly as it moves to enhance cloud services to its growing audience of iPad and iPhone customers with the new iCloud, which will be available for free and by default for all users starting with iOS 5 later this fall.
Microsoft's own efforts in mobile devices, ranging from the Zune music player to the KIN and Windows Mobile/Windows Phone smartphone platforms and its tablet products based on both Windows CE and Windows 7 have all been dismal failures, resulting in the company's share of the smartphone market plummeting from 28 percent to less than 1 percent from the appearance of Apple's iPhone to the most recent quarter.
The new filing, detailed by Windows enthusiast Ed Bott of ZDNet, completely erases mention of the Linux operating system as a competitor to Windows.
Instead, the company now states that it is "mainly" Apple and Google who offer "various commercial software products that compete" with Windows. Last year, Microsoft cited various competitors "including" Apple and Google.
Microsoft has also changed its description of alternative platforms that compete against Windows, greatly deemphasizing the threat of web browsers that were once the company's top competitive priority. Even last year, the company listed Apple, Google, Mozilla and Opera as offering software that "competes with the web browsing capabilities of Internet Explorer," which the company described as "a component of the Windows operation system."
All of that verbiage is now gone, reflecting tremendous shifts that have occurred in the tech industry, both in the erosion of Internet Explorer's share of web use as well as in the shrinking role of PCs in general as people move to mobile devices.
World gone mobile
Microsoft doesn't mention smartphones or the iPad specifically, but does remove two key words that indicate how much mobile devices have changed its competitive landscape.
First, the removal of the word "new" before "devices" that compete with Windows indicates that Microsoft now sees mobile devices as being a mainstream phenomenon, rather than an approaching trend.
Secondly, the company struck the word "consumer" from its acknowledgment of the risk of reduced demand for PCs, indicating that mobile devices are now making great strides in the enterprise as well, not just within consumer markets.
Microsoft continues to note that "user and usage volumes on mobile devices are increasing worldwide relative to the PC," indicating that devices like the iPad, which can perform a variety of web and app functions, are far more of a significant threat to the company's business than alternative web browsers running on PCs.
Apple online services get a new mention
The company also added Apple in front of Google and Yahoo as competitors to its "Windows Live software and services," a remarkable shift given the general lack of respect the industry has accorded Apple's MobileMe services.
Microsoft is clearly recognizing Apple as a prominent supplier of online services, particularly as it moves to enhance cloud services to its growing audience of iPad and iPhone customers with the new iCloud, which will be available for free and by default for all users starting with iOS 5 later this fall.
Microsoft's own efforts in mobile devices, ranging from the Zune music player to the KIN and Windows Mobile/Windows Phone smartphone platforms and its tablet products based on both Windows CE and Windows 7 have all been dismal failures, resulting in the company's share of the smartphone market plummeting from 28 percent to less than 1 percent from the appearance of Apple's iPhone to the most recent quarter.
Comments
Mentioning Apple more prominently as a competitor may also be intended to address some suspicions that Microsoft and Apple are co-operating behind the scenes in tag-teaming Google and/or Android. It wouldn't serve MS well to be perceived as having an understanding with Apple on an Android strategy.
Nice take.
Mentioning Apple more prominently as a competitor may also be intended to address some suspicions that Microsoft and Apple are co-operating behind the scenes in tag-teaming Google and/or Android. It wouldn't serve MS well to be perceived as having an understanding with Apple on an Android strategy.
I kinda agree with you. google seems to be all domineering once you get on the WWW. i dont have a problem with it yet but its only a matter of time.
(a) Does Steve Jobs still have cancer?
(b) Is getting skinnier an ominous sign?
I am seriously worried after I read some comments on sites like 9to5mac.com. Hence, I'm very anxious to hear your thoughts on this. But I hope I'm just worried too much.
Thanks.
IronTed
Hello buddies! I am sorry but I have to ask some tough questions. I noticed Steve Jobs was getting skinnier the last time I saw him. So I would like to know:
(a) Does Steve Jobs still have cancer?
(b) Is getting skinnier an ominous sign?
I am seriously worried after I read some comments on sites like 9to5mac.com. Hence, I'm very anxious to hear your thoughts on this. But I hope I'm just worried too much.
Thanks.
Hi. This has absolutely nothing to do with this thread, but I'll indulge you.
1. He wouldn't have been given a liver if he had cancer.
2. If getting skinnier is an 'ominous' sign (you read that idiot's post on the 9to5 thread about the Steve Jobs autobiography, didn't you?), then I'm about to die just because I'm trying to be a healthier body composition.
Steve lost a ton of weight because his liver failed. Then the surgery took away more. We obviously can't know this for sure, but I believe if Steve weren't a vegan, he'd've been back to proper weight LONG ago. It's probably his diet that's keeping him so thin (remember after the September keynote last year when he told us about having a liver transplant? He was interviewed and said that he's eating 'a lot of ice cream' to get his weight back up. The only reason for that would be his diet, as doctors would have had to respect his dietary wishes and forgo other foods more suited to postoperative weight gain).
I successfully uploaded a file to test it. It was tedious but it got done. The file won't open in a browser when the link is clicked. It must be downloaded. On top of that there are no buttons or right click capabilities to delete it or move it. It took me at least five minutes of clicking around the whole site to find a button two clicks away from the page to delete the file.
Microsoft is just killing itself by making even their free products difficult to use. The whole point of letting people try services free is to get them to like the service enough to buy it, not hate it. I doubt I'll ever visit that account again.
Perhaps there is just some lack of oversight or vision within that company. They don't seem to have a clear strategy or an imperative to make things work with ease for the average person.
They had better consider Linux and the other browser companies as competition. I swear installing Ubuntu wasn't as difficult as using that Microsoft free storage site. The instructions I found were very clear on the Ubuntu web site. Canonical is maintaining Ubuntu and moving it into many business operations all around the world. Red Hat is too.
Is this shift in Microsoft's idea of it's real competition a portent of them becoming a hardware manufacturer more than a software company? Will Windows become just a small part of their portfolio of products instead of a main product? Could Microsoft truly turn their Windows OS into a good OS by controlling all of the hardware that runs it?
Mentioning Apple more prominently as a competitor may also be intended to address some suspicions that Microsoft and Apple are co-operating behind the scenes in tag-teaming Google and/or Android. It wouldn't serve MS well to be perceived as having an understanding with Apple on an Android strategy.
Nice Gatorguy. You can pat yourself on the back for that.
Hello buddies! I am sorry but I have to ask some tough questions. I noticed Steve Jobs was getting skinnier the last time I saw him. So I would like to know:
(a) Does Steve Jobs still have cancer?
(b) Is getting skinnier an ominous sign?
I am seriously worried after I read some comments on sites like 9to5mac.com. Hence, I'm very anxious to hear your thoughts on this. But I hope I'm just worried too much.
Thanks.
IronTed
(a) We don't know.
(b) Not always. Case study: SF Giants third-baseman Pablo Sandoval lost a lot of weight from last year and his effectiveness both at the plate and on defense have been remarkably elevated this year. Of course, those are different situations however, generally speaking, being overweight is considered to be far more of a health risk than being underweight.
You probably worry too much.
You're welcome.
Hi. This has absolutely nothing to do with this thread, but I'll indulge you.
1. He wouldn't have been given a liver if he had cancer.
2. If getting skinnier is an 'ominous' sign (you read that idiot's post on the 9to5 thread about the Steve Jobs autobiography, didn't you?), then I'm about to die just because I'm trying to be a healthier body composition.
Steve lost a ton of weight because his liver failed. Then the surgery took away more. We obviously can't know this for sure, but I believe if Steve weren't a vegan, he'd've been back to proper weight LONG ago. It's probably his diet that's keeping him so thin (remember after the September keynote last year when he told us about having a liver transplant? He was interviewed and said that he's eating 'a lot of ice cream' to get his weight back up. The only reason for that would be his diet, as doctors would have had to respect his dietary wishes and forgo other foods more suited to postoperative weight gain).
Yeah I did! Anyway, thanks for clearing this up. I feel much better now
Revenge of the "rounding error".
How is it revenge? MS wrote it.
I think Gatorguy's nailed it. The edits serve MS's current purposes. In fact, it wouldn't surprise me if MS planted the story.
Emotions can change rather quickly when a new common enemy enters the fray. Everyone is ganging up on Google because Google has the largest market share and is an easy target. This reminds me of the game Settlers of Catan. Without fail, half way into the game someone will appear too powerful. That person NEVER wins because everyone gangs up on them.
There is a good chance Google is going to get crushed. The purchase of Motorola Mobility doesn't surprise me. It is a desperate measure taken at a desperate time. Don't be fooled by the Android market share. Android is in BIG TROUBLE. They were giving away Apple knock off software for free and now it isn't free anymore because of licensing fees. They could lose market share just as fast as they got it.
How is it revenge? MS wrote it.
I think Gatorguy's nailed it. The edits serve MS's current purposes. In fact, it wouldn't surprise me if MS planted the story.
Emotions can change rather quickly when a new common enemy enters the fray. Everyone is ganging up on Google because Google has the largest market share and is an easy target. This reminds me of the game Settlers of Catan. Without fail, half way into the game someone will appear too powerful. That person NEVER wins because everyone gangs up on them.
There is a good chance Google is going to get crushed. The purchase of Motorola Mobility doesn't surprise me. It is a desperate measure taken at a desperate time. Don't be fooled by the Android market share. Android is in BIG TROUBLE. They were giving away Apple knock off software for free and now it isn't free anymore because of licensing fees. They could lose market share just as fast as they got it.
By the way, in case you're asking why everyone doesn't gang up on Apple. The answer is simple. Apple only makes high end products. They actually have a relatively small percentage of the market (even though they make all the money). Microsoft, Nokia, HP, etc., are at the moment most interested in the same market as Google. I'm sure anyone of them would like to dethrone Google first to have a force in the market and then take on Apple by slowly eroding away the high end market (from the bottom up).
By the way, in case you're asking why everyone doesn't gang up on Apple. The answer is simple. Apple only makes high end products. They actually have a relatively small percentage of the market (even though they make all the money). Microsoft, Nokia, HP, etc., are at the moment most interested in the same market as Google. I'm sure anyone of them would like to dethrone Google first to have a force in the market and then take on Apple by slowly eroding away the high end market (from the bottom up).
Not always true. And your quoted strategy did not work for Apple's competitors in the MP3 player market.
You can buy an iRiver 4GB player for $25, while the 2GB iPod shuffle lists at $49. And yet, Apple's music players have something like 90% marketshare. Walmart just announced the closing of their online music store. Cost competition isn't doing it in many cases.
No matter how many times I hear the comment that mobile is replacing desktop computers I still don't see how It could ever apply to my usage patterns.
The problem here is that you are focusing your own usage patterns which are irrelevant to the larger marketplace.
Apple, as well as other manufacturers, sell far more mobile devices as desktop computers. Notebook computers started dominating Mac sales years ago and continue this trend. Same with every other PC manufacturer on this planet.
It's about the entire marketplace, not about your own individual usage case. You, like me, are statistically insignificant. Apple still sells desktop computers for people like you. However, you fall into a smaller group of users. Go read Apple's SEC filings if you want to know how many people like you still live on this planet. You are part of a dying minority. As a Mac mini user, I'm part of that group. I am, however, using an iPad for most of my computing needs these days.
Mentioning Apple more prominently as a competitor may also be intended to address some suspicions that Microsoft and Apple are co-operating behind the scenes in tag-teaming Google and/or Android. It wouldn't serve MS well to be perceived as having an understanding with Apple on an Android strategy.
Sooo, things are not what they seem. I get it. Following that logic, MSFT could be working with Google against Apple behind the scenes instead. Or perhaps, it is Firefox that they are really targeting as competitor #1, as suggested by the removal of Mozilla as a threat. Take the reasoning one step further, it's clear Nokia is the company they want to beat down. The alliance announced earlier is nothing but a Trojan horse.
Those devious Redmond bastards. Can't believe anything they say, or don't say, or kind of say, or kind of don't say.
...
Sorry - couldn't help myself
Wow, Microsoft. When did you wake up?
You should read the 10k before judging them. The AI summary is kind of misleading.