There are large changes at the executive suite of Microsoft [key management J.Allard and Robbie Bach are out] as the Mobile and Internet divisions continue to flounder while Apple and Google start to establish huge positions in mobile markets. Now don’t shed a tear for Argentina .. uhh, Redmond. Since 1998 they have owned not just the PC desktop but also the commanding position for small device OS having eradicated GO and PenOS and promised a tablet many times soon. But the fundamental problem confronting Redmond are threefold: 1)their OS have grown huge, cumbersome and hard to change. Google is using lightweight Linux; Apple has started from bottom up with iPhone OS. 2)Internecine warfare among the divisions is killing too many good ideas. 3)Redmond still has not figured out a way to beat [or even match] Apple’s first strike innovation and precise market positioning [take Kin for an example – good reviews, bad pricing and intro]. Nor have they found a way to deal with Google’s Open strategy that makes zero pricing by Redmond uselessly redundant. And Google has proved to be much more agile and responsive to the dynamic changes in the mobile market – launch of Android and Nexus One but quick stop in selling Nexus One online and direct.
Will this mark the upcoming retirement of Steve Ballmer ? Yes, if he does not deliver Phone OS 7 as a winner on Christmas shelfs.