Microsoft CEO Ballmer not worried about Apple's market cap

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  • Reply 21 of 105
    appdevappdev Posts: 61member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by cgc0202 View Post


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



    They are not really the same.



    1) Market Cap and Market Share have to correlation



    2) Ballmer is right that profitability is what's important and Apple is on the verge of passing them.



    3) In the smartphone space Apple's profitability lead has been increasing each quarter. So yes, Android has been gaining market share rapidly, however, their profits haven't been growing enough to keep up with Apple's profits in that space (yet).
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  • Reply 22 of 105
    The graph says it all really, what has this guy achieved since taking over from Bill Gates? I would be fuming as a shareholder. To constantly dismiss a competitors products and then copy them badly? That is his vision as head of one of the biggest companies on the planet? Where is the vote of no confidence? Microsoft can do better than this...
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  • Reply 23 of 105
    rfoaprfoap Posts: 1member
    MSFT may be the most profitable, but it's not like Apple is trailing them by much. Seems silly to just brush off Apple's revenue when it's roughly 93% of what MSFT made during Q1 2010. It's not difficult to imagine Apple equaling or surpassing MSFT's revenue in the near future.
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  • Reply 24 of 105
    macinthe408macinthe408 Posts: 1,050member
    "The iPhone will suck ass, Windows Mobile will rule, and I will lose 83 pounds in 2 months." --Steve Ballmer, 2007
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  • Reply 25 of 105
    istudistud Posts: 193member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Kovich View Post


    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.



    No, no. That wouldn't work, you would have to close all open windows first!
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  • Reply 26 of 105
    Fire Steve ballmer !
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  • Reply 27 of 105
    addicted44addicted44 Posts: 831member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by rfoap View Post


    MSFT may be the most profitable, but it's not like Apple is trailing them by much. Seems silly to just brush off Apple's revenue when it's roughly 93% of what MSFT made during Q1 2010. It's not difficult to imagine Apple equaling or surpassing MSFT's revenue in the near future.



    I fully expect that to happen the next holiday season.



    Updated iPhone 4G. Potentially newer version of iPad (although that may not happen due to the current shortages). Updated iPods. Updated Macs.



    These are 4 product categories that will just sell like blockbusters in that period.
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  • Reply 28 of 105
    blastdoorblastdoor Posts: 3,828member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AppDev View Post


    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? \



    I guess they continue to have 100% of the Microsoft Windows market...
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  • Reply 29 of 105
    anonymouseanonymouse Posts: 7,121member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by christopher126 View Post


    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



    Well, to answer my own question above, it seems the inflation rate since April 2000 is about 27%, making Microsoft's value back then, in today's dollars, about $700 billion, so it's actually down to less than 1/3 of what it was. Apple's value 10 years ago, adjusted for inflation (assuming my calculations are correct) would be about $20 billion, a greater than ten-fold increase.
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  • Reply 30 of 105
    paulmjohnsonpaulmjohnson Posts: 1,380member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Blastdoor View Post


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



    My money is he'll switch to banging on about units sold being most important (i.e. they shift loads of crap at low margin).



    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!\



    That's a very good point. In Balmers defense he's hardly likely to declare, "oh my God, everything Apple does is better than us and we're going to get killed". Even if it is true!



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by anantksundaram View Post


    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 it's 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 it's being a tech company). It is not rocket science.



    You're right, but you also need to consider herd mentality. Some stocks are seen as inherently "sexy" whilst others are not. I suspect Apple are helped there too.
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  • Reply 31 of 105
    cincyteecincytee Posts: 426member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by anantksundaram View Post


    MSFT does very well with the former, from it's legacy businesses.... That is also why their PE ratio -- esp. The Forward PE ratio -- is so low for it's being....



    it's -- a contraction of "it is"

    its -- a possessive pronoun indicating association to an inanimate object
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  • Reply 32 of 105
    rhyderhyde Posts: 294member
    Keep in mind that MS stock trades at about 1/10th the price of Apple stock right now. So a $1 fluctuation requires a $10 fluctuation on Apple's part. Granted, MS has been going down these past few years, but adding a few cents to MS share price can change things overnight (either way, I might point out).



    What Apple ought to do is institute a 10:1 stock split so their stock trades in the $25 range. Think of the psychological boost that will give to the stock price when people figure they can buy it for $25 (and remember the bad old days when you could get it for that price).
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  • Reply 33 of 105
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by cincytee View Post


    it's -- a contraction of "it is"

    its -- a possessive pronoun indicating association to an inanimate object



    could it be that we all know this already and it's just a typo?



    You could work on something more useful like getting your City to use less consonants in its name!



    Just teasing btw!



    Best
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  • Reply 34 of 105
    stldougstldoug Posts: 10member
    Quote:

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



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  • Reply 35 of 105
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Blastdoor View Post


    I guess they continue to have 100% of the Microsoft Windows market...



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  • Reply 36 of 105
    mstonemstone Posts: 11,510member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Blastdoor View Post


    I guess they continue to have 100% of the Microsoft Windows market...





    Not really. The most cracked software ever. Pirates, Pirates, Pirates!
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  • Reply 37 of 105
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by PaulMJohnson View Post


    You're right, but you also need to consider herd mentality. Some stocks are seen as inherently "sexy" whilst others are not. I suspect Apple are helped there too.



    Good points! The wind is certainly at Apple's back....Maybe MS needs more of a shake up than just changing to Division Heads?

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  • Reply 38 of 105
    dr millmossdr millmoss Posts: 5,403member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by christopher126 View Post


    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!



    Would any other CEO survive that sort of performance, over such a long period of time? It can't hurt Ballmer's position that he's an old FOB and a major MSFT stockholder himself.



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by rhyde View Post


    What Apple ought to do is institute a 10:1 stock split so their stock trades in the $25 range. Think of the psychological boost that will give to the stock price when people figure they can buy it for $25 (and remember the bad old days when you could get it for that price).



    Think of what a pointless waste of effort that would be.
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  • Reply 39 of 105
    island hermitisland hermit Posts: 6,217member
    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.






    Without question Steve J has done an amazing job at turning around Apple.



    I'll be really impressed, though, when Apple surpasses $556 billion in market capitalization.
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  • Reply 40 of 105
    MacPromacpro Posts: 19,873member
    So can he explain why they have gone from 500+ Billion to where they are now. Isn't his math a little fuzzy? Oh right they spent too much on photocopiers.
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