Steve Ballmer should step up, or ship out
Fifteen days using Surface Pro as my primary PC, I must say that I really, really like the tablet. Windows 8, the same. Ditto for Bing and Internet Explorer. I'm no stranger to using Microsoft products or services. But I am new to them being presented and consumed the way the company intends. The experience is refreshing and exhilarating, yet depressing. Who will know, with so much attention going to Android and iOS devices, or nimbler competitors offering more compelling products or services at faster pace?
Microsoft's problems aren't new, and that is the problem. This morning I reread my December 2009 post: "Microsoft isn't losing its consumer edge, it was game over long ago". I'm disturbed how little has changed, so much that, except for the lead paragraph, I could repost with new headline and the content would still be relevant. I will lift some parts here, as I offer, for the umpteenth time, remedies to Microsoft's woes.
At CES 2013, Steve Ballmer officially ushers in the post-PC era
Steve Ballmer's surprise CES pre-show keynote appearance is shocking and full of symbolism. Ballmer goes from being star to minor player on one of the tech industry's most important stages. Stunned sums up my reaction, and I was sorry to see Microsoft's CEO there last night. The company officially pulled out of the Consumer Electronics Show this year, with Ballmer ceding the keynote he inherited from Bill Gates. Clean break would have been better than this.
I don't demean his time on stage, which actually livened a limping start. Qualcomm chief executive Paul Jacobs benefited from his keynote predecessor's Windows 8 presentation. My problem is Ballmer being there at all, for what his presence represents -- and there are a couple overlapping ways to read it.
IDC says I won't have to kiss Steve Ballmer's feet
In March 2011, IDC made the most ridiculous prediction -- that Windows Phone would be second to Android in smartphone market share by 2015. I laughed off the forecast, but promised: "Should IDC's prediction prove to be right, I'll make atonement. If Windows Phone is No. 2 smartphone OS by 2015, I'll kiss Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer's feet. He can take off his socks and shoes, too". Today IDC revised the numbers. Microsoft's OS share still looks too high but also places third. Lucky me.
The new numbers are dramatically different and support my longstanding contention that the smartphone market is, or was, too volatile to forecast. Android clearly wins the share battle, even by IDC's conservative estimates. The analyst firm had put Android share at 45.4 percent in 2015, followed by Windows Phone and iOS, with 20.9 percent and 15.3 percent, respectively. Now in 2016, Android projection is 63.8 percent share, followed by iOS (19.1 percent) and Windows Phone (11.4 percent). I wouldn't rule out a BlackBerry comeback.
Steve Ballmer should pitch more Microsoft products
Microsoft's CEO may be a smart guy who can stand in a room of geeks like one of them. But Steve Ballmer's legacy is marketing. It's what he did before joining Microsoft and for much of his early years with the company. Colleague Mihaita Bamburic calls out a new Windows Phone 8 commercial that Ballmer narrates.
Oh yeah. Don't stop there, Microsoft. The new advert is "Meet Steve. See his Windows Phone". Do a series of "Meet Steve" adverts using all kinds of Microsoft products. People relate to people, and nothing resonates more than those who are hugely successful. Make Ballmer the person other folks aspire to be.
Steve Ballmer narrates Windows Phone 8 ad, hints a new Type Cover color?
Microsoft publicly unveiled Windows Phone 8 yesterday. We know that. But it does not happen everyday for the company's CEO, Steve Ballmer, to star in an ad presenting the company's latest smartphone operating system.
Titled "Meet Steve. See his Windows Phone," the video ad takes the man behind one of the most important companies in tech through various Windows Phone 8 features. There is an emphasis on social networking towards the beginning, as is shown by Facebook tiles. It has to be noted that the latter can be integrated in one's Outlook account, which is a neat feature further presented through a continuously updating Messaging live tile. The Mail app also displays similar behavior when Ballmer mentions "So, so, so much advice." Then there's Bill Gates making a short appearance.
On Steve Ballmer's big day, a look back 11 years
Today is a big day for Microsoft, with the Windows 8 and tablet launches, and potentially a very big day, too, for Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer. It had better be, because some pundits think Win8 is Ballmer’s last hurrah, that he’ll be forced to step down if the new operating system isn’t a big success. That might be true, though I have a hard time imagining who would replace Ballmer at this point and how the company would change as a result. I’m not saying there isn’t room for improvement -- heck, I’m among those who have called for Ballmer to go -- I’m just not sure what would be any better. More on that in a future column.
Today, rather than look to the future or even to Windows 8, I’d like to write more about Ballmer, putting his reign at Microsoft into some context.
Steve Ballmer asks customers, partners and shareholders to believe in Microsoft
Today, Microsoft's CEO released his annual shareholder letter, which also is meant for customers, employees and partners. Steve Ballmer's looking back-peering ahead missive comes as the company stands on a precipice between the PC and cloud-connected device eras and seeks reinvention through an unusually strong late-year release cycle that includes Surface tablets, Windows 8, Windows RT and Windows Server 2012.
Under Bill Gates, Microsoft sought to put a PC on every desktop, with software innovation driving that effort. Ballmer describes post-PC Microsoft as a "devices and services company", which aptly describes the fundamental shift in progress. Services focus reminds of IBM, which dominated the mainframe era the PC displaced. This devices and services ambition "impacts how we run the company, how we develop new experiences, and how we take products to market for both consumers and businesses".
Steve Ballmer hints at Microsoft Surface costing $300-$800
Rumors of a $199 Microsoft Surface RT tablet popped up on the Web a month ago, feeding the idea of a cheap and even subsidized Microsoft tablet that would take the pricing war to any device from the Google Nexus 7 to Apple's new iPad. In an interview for The Seattle Times, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer mentioned a new price range for the the company's Windows 8 device, putting the previous rumors of a $199 Microsoft tablet to rest.
Even though Microsoft did not announce the pricing, when asked about Surface, Steve Ballmer said that it would go for "probably $300 to about $700 or $800," giving a rough estimate of what potential buyers should expect to pay for the much discussed tablet. The previous rumors might be dust in the wind after the latest "estimate," but at the same time it calls for speculation justified by the $500 difference which isn't unsubstantial to say the least.
If Windows Phone is No. 2 by 2016, I'll clean Steve Ballmer's toilet
In March of last year, I boasted: "If Windows phone is No. 2 by 2015, I'll kiss Steve Ballmer's feet". Looks like Microsoft's CEO and I get a year's reprieve. Once again, IDC makes ridiculous, bold claims about how Windows Phone will ascend to second place in market share, now in 2016. Oh, pleeease forgive my skepticism considering how Windows Phone share has done nothing but fall like a rock -- 1.9 percent sales share in Q1, according to Gartner.
It's a year later in the forecast, so I'm making a new pledge. Since my prediction and ego would be in the toilet, I'll clean Ballmer's if Windows Phone rises like IDC predicts. It's a pledge I never expect to fulfill, so it's easy to make. Besides, in this newer forecast, IDC places an escape clause, suggesting waning confidence Nokia can lift Windows Phone so high.
Don't cry for me, Steve Ballmer
But I'll shed a tear for you and remember the good times we had together.
That's because IDC asserts, despite exciting Windows 8's coming launch, that the PC era will be over by 2016. Gartner uses a different metric to arrive at 2014. But whatever the measure, the Windows era is over, too, as (gulp) Android becomes the most widely shipped operating system on the planet. I guess you were right to obsess about Google after all. Cripes! As long ago as 2003, wasn't it? Who could have imagined that it would really come to this? You weren't being paranoid at all.
Steve Ballmer says goodbye to CES
There are no more chances for Steve Ballmer. This is the end. His swansong. The final hurrah. Microsoft's CEO stepped onto the Consumer Electronics Show keynote stage for the last time tonight. If my count is right, a Microsoft chief executive has given 13 CES opening keynotes -- with this year's the 12th consecutively. Ballmer's last is his third.
Ballmer was in good form as he donned the stage. Boisterous, cagey but not his usually caged manner -- he typically paces around like a penned up tiger, and he often yells like one growls. Ballmer was subdued tonight, as he took the stage with Ryan Seacrest, who seems to be everywhere these days (not just "American Idol"). Seacrest was an excellent choice for a fireside chat with Ballmer. Many people probably don't remember the TV-show host from his days at CNET. Yeah, CNET. Seacrest co-hosted a tech show.
Steve Ballmer caption contest winner
Last week, we asked you to put a caption to the photo above -- for a chance to win an HP TouchPad -- and, whoa, did you ever. We received about 300 responses in comments and by email. Many of the best caption contenders came by mail, while many others came too late to qualify; deadline was December 28, 2011 at 11:59:59 pm ET. Actually, among the late-comers there were some well-deserving contest considerations. :(
We reduced the number of candidates to 15; originally we planned 10 but there were so many good entries. We used a polyhedral dice from my old Dungeons & Dragons game -- yes, there was role playing before the Internet and Xbox 360 -- to cut the contenders to 12, nine, six and three. Then one -- so the winner was randomly chosen from among the top 15.
Did Steve Ballmer just promote or demote Windows Phone chief?
I'm scratching my head wondering. You want to answer that one? If you work for Microsoft, I'd love your anonymous response.
This afternoon, in an email sent to Microsoft employees, CEO Steve Ballmer announced that Terry Myerson would take over the Windows Phone division, replacing Andy Lees, who only assumed position of "president" 14 months ago. Lees is the second divisional leader moved out by Ballmer in about 11 months. The other: Former Server and Tools president Bob Muglia.
I'm sure Steve Ballmer is shaking in his boots
How else could he react to the stunning news that Macs now have 5 percent global PC market share. Surely the Windows monopoly is teetering on its foundations. OMG! It only took Apple 10 years to achieve this stunning milestone. Steve Jobs set the 5 percent goal a decade ago when launching the first Apple Store. Quick send the EMS team to Ballmer's office!
Needham analyst Charlie Wolf claims the 5 percent number, really 5.2 percent, globally, based on IDC third-quarter data on PC shipments. Apple Insider posted the numbers late yesterday. I haven't seen the report yet today. But who would make up something like this or stretch the numbers by X percent? So in a break from form I'm sourcing Apple Insider until the report reaches my bursting inbox. Usually, I wait on the original source.
Steve Ballmer headlines Consumer Electronics Show again -- but why?
File this in the "if he's still CEO" department.
Today, the Consumer Electronics Association announced that, no surprise, Microsoft's CEO would give CES' kick-off keynote next year.
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