Windows execs unclear about Google strategy
By Wilson • Jun 4th, 2010 • Category: Industry News
- Photo: Microsoft
Microsoft has had an up and down 2010. With the release of Windows 7 and Office 2010, the company’s prospects have been stabilised, but outside of those two products, it didn’t take Apple overtaking their market cap to reveal something amiss within the company.
Interviewed at the D8 conference, Steve Ballmer, Microsoft’s CEO, and Ray Ozzie, Microsoft’s Chief Software Architect, answered various questions with Google Android related questions revealing just how at odds the Redmond Giant is. And that’s not just relating to competition, but relating to each other as well.
Android the past, or Android strategy confusing
When asked about Google Android, Steve Ballmer responded, ‘On the phone, Android’s a real competitor. On the larger-screen devices, who knows?’ He continued into a diatribe on why Google must have two operating systems, as well, saying having both Android OS and Chrome OS will lead to confusion and a lack of coherence.
What Ozzie thinks
When Ray Ozzie was asked the exact same question, he responded saying, ‘Android is a bet on the past; Chrome is a bet on the future,’ adding that their current reliance on app usage – as in the case of the Google Android OS – tethers them to devices, while Chrome OS looks to the coming web-based future.
- Photo: Android
Not that there’s anything inherently wrong with Ozzie’s answer, it’s just that it’s so different from Ballmer’s that one worries they’re not on the same page. And with a company of Microsoft’s epic scale, you need the leadership steering in the same direction.
The sore spot – tablets
What’s happened, whether Steve Ballmer will admit it or not, is that Google Android is eating Microsoft’s breakfast. The mobile OS powers some of the best selling phones and has battered Windows mobile in recent times. It is also significantly favoured – by sentiment, if not availability yet – over Windows 7 on the tablet and if, just if, Chrome OS gathers some steam, Microsoft will have an enormous problem on its hands.
Tags for this article: android, windows 7
