I thought HTC had a work around for this and had already implemented it newer devices.
I don't disagree with the money to be had but I do wonder why this golden egg hasn't been sought after. It makes me think it's too good to be true or not in the best interest of Apple's longevity with iOS-based devices in ways I can't imagine.
HTC said they would remove the feature. That's their work around. One can't actually work around everything. That's one of the reasons why patents exist.
The golden egg hasn't been gone after because of Steve's inclinations to not go after it. We have all read what he was thinking. But not everything he thought was great. If Apple sued years ago, it might have been different. But by waiting until Android was so big, these companies are now reluctant to part with their sales the way they might have been the first year when it looked as though Android was going nowhere. That's one problem with not pouncing right away. I was surprised that after Jobs said that they would defend the iPhone (before it was called iOS), that they didn't do so immediately. They could have scared off other manufacturers back then, but not now.
In some areas of business they do which carry their overall load, include the areas in which MS loses money, but I don't see why Apple should forego their more profitable strategies for MS's less profitable strategies. Is MS making more profit in the handset business than Apple? It doesn't even seem close.
The law states that a patent holder doesn't have to license the tech to anyone if they don't want to.
If all the other techs took the attitude that it's their IP and they're not licensing it then there would be no iPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac etc., and perhaps no Apple at all.
Withholding basic patents doesn't benefit the consumers or mobile markets, instead throwing rocks in the road for everyone. That's my opinion at least.
In some areas of business they do which carry their overall load, include the areas in which MS loses money, but I don't see why Apple should forego their more profitable strategies for MS's less profitable strategies. Is MS making more profit in the handset business than Apple? It doesn't even seem close.
Forgot, unless you are Apple you are crap. regardless that your company makes billions each year. Brilliant.
Apple's more profitable strategy - Waste millions in lawyers fees, winning and then simply having your win countered by a simple software update (HTC)
Microsofts Strategy - Strike deals with handset makers and rake in the cash for doing nothing but having a patent.
And their growth is stalling. It looks as though Windows growth will end in the low single digits this year. Next year looks as though it could be the same, unless Win 8 turns out to be a big hit, rather than the Vista moment businesses are saying it will be. Of course, the poor consumer never has the choice to buy a new machine either with Windows or OS X that isn't the latest version.
And over some short time, if Windows growth stalls, so will Office sales, and all their other business software. Eventually, this will affect their tools and server divisions. Windows, for Microsoft, is the leading indicator.
Phase 1: full on attack on Android manufacturers, with the goal of sales injunctions:
Quote:
Originally Posted by AppleInsider
Jobs said he believed Android was a "stolen product," and indicated he was "willing to go thermonuclear war" to stop it.
Phase 2: collect royalties from the surviving Android manufacturers:
Quote:
Originally Posted by AppleInsider
[Kevin Rivette] ... believes Apple could probably collect up to $10 in royalties for every Android device sold. That would be twice the $5 per unit Microsoft is believed to receive for each HTC Android device sold.
The two-phase approach immediately makes life miserable for Android device manufacturers, while causing a certain amount of doubt among developers, carriers, and consumers. Later, if necessary, Apple could relent and allow the Android manufacturers to license their technology. But only if they really need to, which doesn't appear likely.
Either way, it's going to cost the Android device makers. Possession of stolen property makes you an accessory to the crime.
And their growth is stalling. It looks as though Windows growth will end in the low single digits this year. Next year looks as though it could be the same, unless Win 8 turns out to be a big hit, rather than the Vista moment businesses are saying it will be. Of course, the poor consumer never has the choice to buy a new machine either with Windows or OS X that isn't the latest version.
And over some short time, if Windows growth stalls, so will Office sales, and all their other business software. Eventually, this will affect their tools and server divisions. Windows, for Microsoft, is the leading indicator.
If all the other techs took the attitude that it's their IP and they're not licensing it then there would be no iPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac etc., and perhaps no Apple at all.
Withholding basic patents doesn't benefit the consumers or mobile markets, instead throwing rocks in the road for everyone. That's my opinion at least.
Mostly, you're correct. Even Apple licenses much of their IP to others. This is forgotten in the stories we read about specific cases, because the rest isn't sexy enough to write about. After all, how interesting is it to write that Apple, like most tech companies licenses much of their IP, while keeping IP they think they need for their own use as an advantage, close to their vest?
We can look at Intel to see a company that refuses to license. when Intel looked as though it might go under, in the 80’s, IBM forced them to allow licensing of x86, because they were afraid that if Intel did go under, IBM would have to use another chip family. But over the years, when they became large and profitable, they withdrew licensing from every company except AMD, where they tried to, and a couple of small companies such as VIA, who had no markets left anyway.
Apple is such a well known company, that when they do what all others do, it gets in the news.
When has Microsoft ever licensed other companies to produce Windows, or Office, or the XBox? Never, of course.
Has Cisco licensed their router hardware or software? Nope.
We can look to many major companies who rarely license. Nothing wrong with that. If they develop it, and want to use it themselves, they don't have to license it.
There was that early internal Google email where they essentially admitted, yes, they could do things legally and come up with their own non-Java frameworks for Android, but that would take too long and it was easier and quicker to infringe now and work things out later. As I recall, the judge hearing the prelims said that that email and a copy of the Magna Carta (ie basic property law) was all that Oracle was likely to need to prove infringement at trial.
Since then Google has furiously and repeatedly tried to get that email tossed out of evidence to no avail, and the trial date is getting closer. Oracle is hurting and while Steve is gone, Larry Ellison is fine and strikes me as even more inclined to scorched-earth retribution here.
I dunno. HTC has also stumbled financially lately and just gotten it's first swat on the nose legally - how much longer are its stockholders going to want to take on Apple instead of concentrating on Windows Mobile? I think there's still a good possibility that 2012 is the year that things really get sticky for Android OEMs. Ten buck a phone seems awfully lowball to get Apple's attention, even post-Steve.
Forgot, unless you are Apple you are crap. regardless that your company makes billions each year. Brilliant.
Apple's more profitable strategy - Waste millions in lawyers fees, winning and then simply having your win countered by a simple software update (HTC)
Microsofts Strategy - Strike deals with handset makers and rake in the cash for doing nothing but having a patent.
Your right, Apple all the way.
MS is suing plenty of companies. Android manufacturers. Motorola, for one. Samsung was threatened with a lawsuit. They're suing one other, though I forget which.
Don't forget the companies they put out of business with their tactics, and for which they had the Feds go after them twice. They aren't a paragon of virtue. Neither is Google.
None of these big companies is perfect, including Apple.
One way or another, Apple will capitalize on this patent. The most profitable would be to destroy the competition by not licensing IP and going full out for import bans and the like. Make no mistake that such measures are emotional reactions caused by the "theft" of Apple's technology. They are calculated attempts to protect the highest possible profit margins, and have always been.
That failing -- due to legislation on anticompetitive behavior, inconvenient rulings in isolated cases, or simply competitors that couldn't care less about the current Western IP regulations -- Apple could go the Microsoft way and take a slice of Android's growing piece of the pie. It may amount to only 10% of Apple's profits for now, with Apple needing to do nothing but just count the cash, but with time it will continue to grow if current trends continue.
And their growth is stalling. It looks as though Windows growth will end in the low single digits this year. Next year looks as though it could be the same, unless Win 8 turns out to be a big hit, rather than the Vista moment businesses are saying it will be. Of course, the poor consumer never has the choice to buy a new machine either with Windows or OS X that isn't the latest version. [...]
But PC makers can force Microsoft to allow them to install older versions of Windows on the PCs that they ship. Dell kept Windows XP alive for at least 2 years after Microsoft attempted to end-of-life it. (Dell plans to continue Windows XP driver support until December 2012, more than 11 years after Windows XP was released.)
And just why would Dell want to ship PCs running XP? Because their corporate customers demanded it. Because XP was "good enough." And Vista wasn't. From the Wikipedia entry on Windows XP: "As of November 2011, Windows XP market share is at 32.8% after having peaked at 76.1% in January 2007."
This is precisely the same problem that Windows 8 will face. Windows 7 will be "good enough" for the next decade, the way XP was "good enough" over the past decade. Windows 7 even has a "Windows XP Mode" so you can run all of your decade-old apps. There won't be any need to upgrade to Windows 8. Only people buying brand new PCs will end up with Windows 8.
Microsoft is stuck between a rock and a hard place. They can't force average consumers to upgrade. And they can't lure average consumers into buying the latest version of Windows simply by sprinkling a little eye candy on top of the same old thing. Over the last two and a half decades, they've trained users to expect a terrible PC experience. Just barely tolerable. Just barely "good enough." There's no "wow" in Windows any more. Was there ever?
I thought HTC had a work around for this and had already implemented it newer devices.
HTC may have a work around BUT it is still a core Android function that in future Google will be WILFULLY infringing on Apple's patent unless it is removed altogether.
All these court cases so far are opening skirmishes, the one's that stick for Apple will give them a much better bargaining position, moving on.
Steve Jobs didn't hate Android, he hated that Google seems to have no regard for other's IP and loaded Android with stolen functionality.
He was quite clear on this, he had no problem with innovation using your own work.
It's not a lot of assumptions, if you understand what is happening to their sales. I follow it pretty closely, as part of my investment strategy. I have to know what these companies are doing.
MS's Windows sales have been a problem since the middle of last year. This isn't because of the economy either, as Mac sales have risen strongly during the same period.
We can look to the 2011 financial year for both, which is over, but not exactly with the same timing. It will be more interesting to see it in Jan, to see the calendar years compared.
MS
Earnings growth...........28.1%
This year so far..............2.1%
Next 10 years est.........10.00%
Revenue growth last.....11.94%
Apple
Earnings growth............82.7%
This year so far.............25.49%
Next 10 years est..........18.00%
Revenue growth last......66.9%
Ms is still doing pretty well, but there are trends. Look at earnings growth so far this year as a percentages of the total from last year. Small. Now, look at Apple's, more than 25% of the total from last years 4 quarters. One is accelerating, and one is declining.
If you go to MS's financial reports, you will see smaller growth in almost every division. It began with Windows last year, when the others still did well, except for tools, which slowed down. But look at this years, and you will see Windows even slower, with Office and others slower as well. It took a year, but it's happening. I'm not the only one who notices these things, which is why MS's stock hasn't risen for 10 years. Actually, it's lower now than it was 10 years ago, despite the small dividend.
MS is being hurt by several trends. One is the smartphone, which allows business people to do things for which they no longer need a netbook. I know that doesn't seem possible, but many business people, on trips, don't need a laptop. They just used them because there was no good way to get e-mail, and read documents.
The iPad is hurting. SAP which recently bought over 12,500 iPads, and the same number of iPhones, stated that half of iPad sales were to businesses. That's about 20 million this year. And it's just the second year it's out! You can read articles on the business sites, and even PC mag about how people are getting along without their laptops by using iPads.
Businesses are buying more Macs, and there are now articles in the techfinancial sites about how to manage this increasing OS X portion of their business.
These aren't assumptions, guesses, or fanciful wishes. You can go to the many sources and read it yourself.
Smarter heads than mine are advising that MS should drop their consumer initiatives such as the XBox, for which they get little, Bing, from which they are losing several billion a year, with little, if no prospect of ever not losing money, their phone OS, from which, if they ever do get more than a minor number of licenses, will not be able to get much profit, given how little they can charge from it, and other areas. They should then concentrate on their business software, and windows.
There was that early internal Google email where they essentially admitted, yes, they could do things legally and come up with their own non-Java frameworks for Android, but that would take too long and it was easier and quicker to infringe now and work things out later. As I recall, the judge hearing the prelims said that that email and a copy of the Magna Carta (ie basic property law) was all that Oracle was likely to need to prove infringement at trial.
Since then Google has furiously and repeatedly tried to get that email tossed out of evidence to no avail, and the trial date is getting closer. Oracle is hurting and while Steve is gone, Larry Ellison is fine and strikes me as even more inclined to scorched-earth retribution here. [...]
Oracle has all the evidence they need. It's just a matter of whether the judge will grant either 1. an injunction and / or 2. damages in a lump sum and / or 3. licensing fees. The licensing fee could be as high as $15 per device, by the way. Add that to the current $5 per device that HTC pays Microsoft and the potential $10 per device if Apple decides to license their patented technology (instead of forcing a sales ban) and Android is the world's most expensive "free" OS.
And you're right about Larry Ellison. Steve Jobs was prone to fits of temper, but he focused most of his energy on improving Apple products and services. Larry, on the other hand, doesn't just want to win. He wants to crush those who challenge him.
Quote:
"Winning is not enough. All others must lose."
- Larry Ellison
Ellison and Oracle will seek every last penny they can wring out of Android. "The full measure of damages," I believe, is the phrase.
But PC makers can force Microsoft to allow them to install older versions of Windows on the PCs that they ship. Dell kept Windows XP alive for at least 2 years after Microsoft attempted to end-of-life it. (Dell plans to continue Windows XP driver support until December 2012, more than 11 years after Windows XP was released.)
And just why would Dell want to ship PCs running XP? Because their corporate customers demanded it. Because XP was "good enough." And Vista wasn't. From the Wikipedia entry on Windows XP: "As of November 2011, Windows XP market share is at 32.8% after having peaked at 76.1% in January 2007."
This is precisely the same problem that Windows 8 will face. Windows 7 will be "good enough" for the next decade, the way XP was "good enough" over the past decade. Windows 7 even has a "Windows XP Mode" so you can run all of your decade-old apps. There won't be any need to upgrade to Windows 8. Only people buying brand new PCs will end up with Windows 8.
Microsoft is stuck between a rock and a hard place. They can't force average consumers to upgrade. And they can't lure average consumers into buying the latest version of Windows simply by sprinkling a little eye candy on top of the same old thing. Over the last two and a half decades, they've trained users to expect a terrible PC experience. Just barely tolerable. Just barely "good enough." There's no "wow" in Windows any more. Was there ever?
Only for businesses. Consumer PC purchasers get no such ability. But as Vista was so very unliked, MS did relent in some areas. Businesses have been saying that now that they've upgraded, or are upgrading to 7, they have no interest in 8, though we know that some small number will do it.
They are worried about the extra training needed for Metro. This is something that businesses are skeptical about. They don't see the need for Metro.
It's not a lot of assumptions, if you understand what is happening to their sales. I follow it pretty closely, as part of my investment strategy. I have to know what these companies are doing.
MS's Windows sales have been a problem since the middle of last year. This isn't because of the economy either, as Mac sales have risen strongly during the same period.
We can look to the 2011 financial year for both, which is over, but not exactly with the same timing. It will be more interesting to see it in Jan, to see the calendar years compared.
MS
Earnings growth...........28.1%
This year so far..............2.1%
Next 10 years est.........10.00%
Revenue growth last.....11.94%
Apple
Earnings growth............82.7%
This year so far.............25.49%
Next 10 years est..........18.00%
Revenue growth last......66.9%
Ms is still doing pretty well, but there are trends. Look at earnings growth so far this year as a percentages of the total from last year. Small. Now, look at Apple's, more than 25% of the total from last years 4 quarters. One is accelerating, and one is declining.
If you go to MS's financial reports, you will see smaller growth in almost every division. It began with Windows last year, when the others still did well, except for tools, which slowed down. But look at this years, and you will see Windows even slower, with Office and others slower as well. It took a year, but it's happening. I'm not the only one who notices these things, which is why MS's stock hasn't risen for 10 years. Actually, it's lower now than it was 10 years ago, despite the small dividend.
MS is being hurt by several trends. One is the smartphone, which allows business people to do things for which they no longer need a netbook. I know that doesn't seem possible, but many business people, on trips, don't need a laptop. They just used them because there was no good way to get e-mail, and read documents.
The iPad is hurting. SAP which recently bought over 12,500 iPads, and the same number of iPhones, stated that half of iPad sales were to businesses. That's about 20 million this year. And it's just the second year it's out! You can read articles on the business sites, and even PC mag about how people are getting along without their laptops by using iPads.
Businesses are buying more Macs, and there are now articles in the techfinancial sites about how to manage this increasing OS X portion of their business.
These aren't assumptions, guesses, or fanciful wishes. You can go to the many sources and read it yourself.
Smarter heads than mine are advising that MS should drop their consumer initiatives such as the XBox, for which they get little, Bing, from which they are losing several billion a year, with little, if no prospect of ever not losing money, their phone OS, from which, if they ever do get more than a minor number of licenses, will not be able to get much profit, given how little they can charge from it, and other areas. They should then concentrate on their business software, and windows.
Will they do that? Maybe after Ballmer leaves.
I am in no way trying to claim MS is doing better than Apple. I am simply saying MS is not a fail company by any means. There is a misconception that is you are not number 1 you are fail. That just is not true.
Comments
Just today Bloomberg issued the first article I've read on the potential fallout from these patents.
- http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-1...-war-tech.html
I thought HTC had a work around for this and had already implemented it newer devices.I don't disagree with the money to be had but I do wonder why this golden egg hasn't been sought after. It makes me think it's too good to be true or not in the best interest of Apple's longevity with iOS-based devices in ways I can't imagine.
HTC said they would remove the feature. That's their work around. One can't actually work around everything. That's one of the reasons why patents exist.
The golden egg hasn't been gone after because of Steve's inclinations to not go after it. We have all read what he was thinking. But not everything he thought was great. If Apple sued years ago, it might have been different. But by waiting until Android was so big, these companies are now reluctant to part with their sales the way they might have been the first year when it looked as though Android was going nowhere. That's one problem with not pouncing right away. I was surprised that after Jobs said that they would defend the iPhone (before it was called iOS), that they didn't do so immediately. They could have scared off other manufacturers back then, but not now.
1) Microsoft is failing and Apple is succeeding
2) Apple is succeeding in a recession and even there home computer mrket is making money when PC sales are rapidly declining.
3) APPLE IS THE MOST VALUABLE COMPANY ON THE PLANET!!! WHOSE STRATEGY DO YOU THINK IS WORKING?!?!?!
See? Very simple
And they make a crap load of money.
In some areas of business they do which carry their overall load, include the areas in which MS loses money, but I don't see why Apple should forego their more profitable strategies for MS's less profitable strategies. Is MS making more profit in the handset business than Apple? It doesn't even seem close.
The law states that a patent holder doesn't have to license the tech to anyone if they don't want to.
If all the other techs took the attitude that it's their IP and they're not licensing it then there would be no iPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac etc., and perhaps no Apple at all.
Withholding basic patents doesn't benefit the consumers or mobile markets, instead throwing rocks in the road for everyone. That's my opinion at least.
In some areas of business they do which carry their overall load, include the areas in which MS loses money, but I don't see why Apple should forego their more profitable strategies for MS's less profitable strategies. Is MS making more profit in the handset business than Apple? It doesn't even seem close.
Forgot, unless you are Apple you are crap. regardless that your company makes billions each year. Brilliant.
Apple's more profitable strategy - Waste millions in lawyers fees, winning and then simply having your win countered by a simple software update (HTC)
Microsofts Strategy - Strike deals with handset makers and rake in the cash for doing nothing but having a patent.
Your right, Apple all the way.
And they make a crap load of money.
And their growth is stalling. It looks as though Windows growth will end in the low single digits this year. Next year looks as though it could be the same, unless Win 8 turns out to be a big hit, rather than the Vista moment businesses are saying it will be. Of course, the poor consumer never has the choice to buy a new machine either with Windows or OS X that isn't the latest version.
And over some short time, if Windows growth stalls, so will Office sales, and all their other business software. Eventually, this will affect their tools and server divisions. Windows, for Microsoft, is the leading indicator.
Jobs said he believed Android was a "stolen product," and indicated he was "willing to go thermonuclear war" to stop it.
Phase 2: collect royalties from the surviving Android manufacturers:
[Kevin Rivette] ... believes Apple could probably collect up to $10 in royalties for every Android device sold. That would be twice the $5 per unit Microsoft is believed to receive for each HTC Android device sold.
The two-phase approach immediately makes life miserable for Android device manufacturers, while causing a certain amount of doubt among developers, carriers, and consumers. Later, if necessary, Apple could relent and allow the Android manufacturers to license their technology. But only if they really need to, which doesn't appear likely.
Either way, it's going to cost the Android device makers. Possession of stolen property makes you an accessory to the crime.
Let's make this real simple so these so called analysts can understand it and try to understand Apple.
1) Microsoft is failing and Apple is succeeding
Billions of dollars in revenue = fail?
2) Apple is succeeding in a recession and even there home computer mrket is making money when PC sales are rapidly declining.
Billions in dollars in revenue = fail?
3) APPLE IS THE MOST VALUABLE COMPANY ON THE PLANET!!! WHOSE STRATEGY DO YOU THINK IS WORKING?!?!?!
See? Very simple
Someone has to be first, which does not mean EVERY other company behind Apple is a fail.
And their growth is stalling. It looks as though Windows growth will end in the low single digits this year. Next year looks as though it could be the same, unless Win 8 turns out to be a big hit, rather than the Vista moment businesses are saying it will be. Of course, the poor consumer never has the choice to buy a new machine either with Windows or OS X that isn't the latest version.
And over some short time, if Windows growth stalls, so will Office sales, and all their other business software. Eventually, this will affect their tools and server divisions. Windows, for Microsoft, is the leading indicator.
That is allot of assumptions.
If all the other techs took the attitude that it's their IP and they're not licensing it then there would be no iPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac etc., and perhaps no Apple at all.
Withholding basic patents doesn't benefit the consumers or mobile markets, instead throwing rocks in the road for everyone. That's my opinion at least.
Mostly, you're correct. Even Apple licenses much of their IP to others. This is forgotten in the stories we read about specific cases, because the rest isn't sexy enough to write about. After all, how interesting is it to write that Apple, like most tech companies licenses much of their IP, while keeping IP they think they need for their own use as an advantage, close to their vest?
We can look at Intel to see a company that refuses to license. when Intel looked as though it might go under, in the 80’s, IBM forced them to allow licensing of x86, because they were afraid that if Intel did go under, IBM would have to use another chip family. But over the years, when they became large and profitable, they withdrew licensing from every company except AMD, where they tried to, and a couple of small companies such as VIA, who had no markets left anyway.
Apple is such a well known company, that when they do what all others do, it gets in the news.
When has Microsoft ever licensed other companies to produce Windows, or Office, or the XBox? Never, of course.
Has Cisco licensed their router hardware or software? Nope.
We can look to many major companies who rarely license. Nothing wrong with that. If they develop it, and want to use it themselves, they don't have to license it.
Since then Google has furiously and repeatedly tried to get that email tossed out of evidence to no avail, and the trial date is getting closer. Oracle is hurting and while Steve is gone, Larry Ellison is fine and strikes me as even more inclined to scorched-earth retribution here.
I dunno. HTC has also stumbled financially lately and just gotten it's first swat on the nose legally - how much longer are its stockholders going to want to take on Apple instead of concentrating on Windows Mobile? I think there's still a good possibility that 2012 is the year that things really get sticky for Android OEMs. Ten buck a phone seems awfully lowball to get Apple's attention, even post-Steve.
Forgot, unless you are Apple you are crap. regardless that your company makes billions each year. Brilliant.
Apple's more profitable strategy - Waste millions in lawyers fees, winning and then simply having your win countered by a simple software update (HTC)
Microsofts Strategy - Strike deals with handset makers and rake in the cash for doing nothing but having a patent.
Your right, Apple all the way.
MS is suing plenty of companies. Android manufacturers. Motorola, for one. Samsung was threatened with a lawsuit. They're suing one other, though I forget which.
Don't forget the companies they put out of business with their tactics, and for which they had the Feds go after them twice. They aren't a paragon of virtue. Neither is Google.
None of these big companies is perfect, including Apple.
That failing -- due to legislation on anticompetitive behavior, inconvenient rulings in isolated cases, or simply competitors that couldn't care less about the current Western IP regulations -- Apple could go the Microsoft way and take a slice of Android's growing piece of the pie. It may amount to only 10% of Apple's profits for now, with Apple needing to do nothing but just count the cash, but with time it will continue to grow if current trends continue.
It's all good business for Apple.
And their growth is stalling. It looks as though Windows growth will end in the low single digits this year. Next year looks as though it could be the same, unless Win 8 turns out to be a big hit, rather than the Vista moment businesses are saying it will be. Of course, the poor consumer never has the choice to buy a new machine either with Windows or OS X that isn't the latest version. [...]
But PC makers can force Microsoft to allow them to install older versions of Windows on the PCs that they ship. Dell kept Windows XP alive for at least 2 years after Microsoft attempted to end-of-life it. (Dell plans to continue Windows XP driver support until December 2012, more than 11 years after Windows XP was released.)
And just why would Dell want to ship PCs running XP? Because their corporate customers demanded it. Because XP was "good enough." And Vista wasn't. From the Wikipedia entry on Windows XP: "As of November 2011, Windows XP market share is at 32.8% after having peaked at 76.1% in January 2007."
This is precisely the same problem that Windows 8 will face. Windows 7 will be "good enough" for the next decade, the way XP was "good enough" over the past decade. Windows 7 even has a "Windows XP Mode" so you can run all of your decade-old apps. There won't be any need to upgrade to Windows 8. Only people buying brand new PCs will end up with Windows 8.
Microsoft is stuck between a rock and a hard place. They can't force average consumers to upgrade. And they can't lure average consumers into buying the latest version of Windows simply by sprinkling a little eye candy on top of the same old thing. Over the last two and a half decades, they've trained users to expect a terrible PC experience. Just barely tolerable. Just barely "good enough." There's no "wow" in Windows any more. Was there ever?
I thought HTC had a work around for this and had already implemented it newer devices.
HTC may have a work around BUT it is still a core Android function that in future Google will be WILFULLY infringing on Apple's patent unless it is removed altogether.
All these court cases so far are opening skirmishes, the one's that stick for Apple will give them a much better bargaining position, moving on.
Steve Jobs didn't hate Android, he hated that Google seems to have no regard for other's IP and loaded Android with stolen functionality.
He was quite clear on this, he had no problem with innovation using your own work.
That is allot of assumptions.
It's not a lot of assumptions, if you understand what is happening to their sales. I follow it pretty closely, as part of my investment strategy. I have to know what these companies are doing.
MS's Windows sales have been a problem since the middle of last year. This isn't because of the economy either, as Mac sales have risen strongly during the same period.
We can look to the 2011 financial year for both, which is over, but not exactly with the same timing. It will be more interesting to see it in Jan, to see the calendar years compared.
MS
Earnings growth...........28.1%
This year so far..............2.1%
Next 10 years est.........10.00%
Revenue growth last.....11.94%
Apple
Earnings growth............82.7%
This year so far.............25.49%
Next 10 years est..........18.00%
Revenue growth last......66.9%
Ms is still doing pretty well, but there are trends. Look at earnings growth so far this year as a percentages of the total from last year. Small. Now, look at Apple's, more than 25% of the total from last years 4 quarters. One is accelerating, and one is declining.
If you go to MS's financial reports, you will see smaller growth in almost every division. It began with Windows last year, when the others still did well, except for tools, which slowed down. But look at this years, and you will see Windows even slower, with Office and others slower as well. It took a year, but it's happening. I'm not the only one who notices these things, which is why MS's stock hasn't risen for 10 years. Actually, it's lower now than it was 10 years ago, despite the small dividend.
MS is being hurt by several trends. One is the smartphone, which allows business people to do things for which they no longer need a netbook. I know that doesn't seem possible, but many business people, on trips, don't need a laptop. They just used them because there was no good way to get e-mail, and read documents.
The iPad is hurting. SAP which recently bought over 12,500 iPads, and the same number of iPhones, stated that half of iPad sales were to businesses. That's about 20 million this year. And it's just the second year it's out! You can read articles on the business sites, and even PC mag about how people are getting along without their laptops by using iPads.
Businesses are buying more Macs, and there are now articles in the techfinancial sites about how to manage this increasing OS X portion of their business.
These aren't assumptions, guesses, or fanciful wishes. You can go to the many sources and read it yourself.
Smarter heads than mine are advising that MS should drop their consumer initiatives such as the XBox, for which they get little, Bing, from which they are losing several billion a year, with little, if no prospect of ever not losing money, their phone OS, from which, if they ever do get more than a minor number of licenses, will not be able to get much profit, given how little they can charge from it, and other areas. They should then concentrate on their business software, and windows.
Will they do that? Maybe after Ballmer leaves.
There was that early internal Google email where they essentially admitted, yes, they could do things legally and come up with their own non-Java frameworks for Android, but that would take too long and it was easier and quicker to infringe now and work things out later. As I recall, the judge hearing the prelims said that that email and a copy of the Magna Carta (ie basic property law) was all that Oracle was likely to need to prove infringement at trial.
Since then Google has furiously and repeatedly tried to get that email tossed out of evidence to no avail, and the trial date is getting closer. Oracle is hurting and while Steve is gone, Larry Ellison is fine and strikes me as even more inclined to scorched-earth retribution here. [...]
Oracle has all the evidence they need. It's just a matter of whether the judge will grant either 1. an injunction and / or 2. damages in a lump sum and / or 3. licensing fees. The licensing fee could be as high as $15 per device, by the way. Add that to the current $5 per device that HTC pays Microsoft and the potential $10 per device if Apple decides to license their patented technology (instead of forcing a sales ban) and Android is the world's most expensive "free" OS.
And you're right about Larry Ellison. Steve Jobs was prone to fits of temper, but he focused most of his energy on improving Apple products and services. Larry, on the other hand, doesn't just want to win. He wants to crush those who challenge him.
"Winning is not enough. All others must lose."
- Larry Ellison
Ellison and Oracle will seek every last penny they can wring out of Android. "The full measure of damages," I believe, is the phrase.
But PC makers can force Microsoft to allow them to install older versions of Windows on the PCs that they ship. Dell kept Windows XP alive for at least 2 years after Microsoft attempted to end-of-life it. (Dell plans to continue Windows XP driver support until December 2012, more than 11 years after Windows XP was released.)
And just why would Dell want to ship PCs running XP? Because their corporate customers demanded it. Because XP was "good enough." And Vista wasn't. From the Wikipedia entry on Windows XP: "As of November 2011, Windows XP market share is at 32.8% after having peaked at 76.1% in January 2007."
This is precisely the same problem that Windows 8 will face. Windows 7 will be "good enough" for the next decade, the way XP was "good enough" over the past decade. Windows 7 even has a "Windows XP Mode" so you can run all of your decade-old apps. There won't be any need to upgrade to Windows 8. Only people buying brand new PCs will end up with Windows 8.
Microsoft is stuck between a rock and a hard place. They can't force average consumers to upgrade. And they can't lure average consumers into buying the latest version of Windows simply by sprinkling a little eye candy on top of the same old thing. Over the last two and a half decades, they've trained users to expect a terrible PC experience. Just barely tolerable. Just barely "good enough." There's no "wow" in Windows any more. Was there ever?
Only for businesses. Consumer PC purchasers get no such ability. But as Vista was so very unliked, MS did relent in some areas. Businesses have been saying that now that they've upgraded, or are upgrading to 7, they have no interest in 8, though we know that some small number will do it.
They are worried about the extra training needed for Metro. This is something that businesses are skeptical about. They don't see the need for Metro.
It's not a lot of assumptions, if you understand what is happening to their sales. I follow it pretty closely, as part of my investment strategy. I have to know what these companies are doing.
MS's Windows sales have been a problem since the middle of last year. This isn't because of the economy either, as Mac sales have risen strongly during the same period.
We can look to the 2011 financial year for both, which is over, but not exactly with the same timing. It will be more interesting to see it in Jan, to see the calendar years compared.
MS
Earnings growth...........28.1%
This year so far..............2.1%
Next 10 years est.........10.00%
Revenue growth last.....11.94%
Apple
Earnings growth............82.7%
This year so far.............25.49%
Next 10 years est..........18.00%
Revenue growth last......66.9%
Ms is still doing pretty well, but there are trends. Look at earnings growth so far this year as a percentages of the total from last year. Small. Now, look at Apple's, more than 25% of the total from last years 4 quarters. One is accelerating, and one is declining.
If you go to MS's financial reports, you will see smaller growth in almost every division. It began with Windows last year, when the others still did well, except for tools, which slowed down. But look at this years, and you will see Windows even slower, with Office and others slower as well. It took a year, but it's happening. I'm not the only one who notices these things, which is why MS's stock hasn't risen for 10 years. Actually, it's lower now than it was 10 years ago, despite the small dividend.
MS is being hurt by several trends. One is the smartphone, which allows business people to do things for which they no longer need a netbook. I know that doesn't seem possible, but many business people, on trips, don't need a laptop. They just used them because there was no good way to get e-mail, and read documents.
The iPad is hurting. SAP which recently bought over 12,500 iPads, and the same number of iPhones, stated that half of iPad sales were to businesses. That's about 20 million this year. And it's just the second year it's out! You can read articles on the business sites, and even PC mag about how people are getting along without their laptops by using iPads.
Businesses are buying more Macs, and there are now articles in the techfinancial sites about how to manage this increasing OS X portion of their business.
These aren't assumptions, guesses, or fanciful wishes. You can go to the many sources and read it yourself.
Smarter heads than mine are advising that MS should drop their consumer initiatives such as the XBox, for which they get little, Bing, from which they are losing several billion a year, with little, if no prospect of ever not losing money, their phone OS, from which, if they ever do get more than a minor number of licenses, will not be able to get much profit, given how little they can charge from it, and other areas. They should then concentrate on their business software, and windows.
Will they do that? Maybe after Ballmer leaves.
I am in no way trying to claim MS is doing better than Apple. I am simply saying MS is not a fail company by any means. There is a misconception that is you are not number 1 you are fail. That just is not true.