By Eshwar Nag
Microsoft is at a crucial stage right now with a lot of impending changes. They have just finished the launch of the XBOX One, Windows 8.1 some time ago and have acquired Nokia’s Devices and services division recently. Their CEO Steve Ballmer has announced retirement and the Redmond Giant is hunting for its new CEO. The bigger changes are however, Microsoft wanting to become a Devices and Services company along with its ‘One Microsoft' initiative.
Microsoft's divisions like Office, Windows, XBOX and Skype have always been separate from one another with not a lot of collaboration with each other. The outgoing CEO has decided to change this. The 'One Microsoft' initiative is said to bring all the divisions of Microsoft closer and build services that collaborate with each other and work together as an ecosystem for greater speed and efficiency. There are already signs of this happening with Windows PCs, Windows Tablets, Windows Phone and XBOX One. And on the hardware front, the introduction of Surface Tablets and the acquisition of Nokia only emphasizes the fact the Microsoft wants to build its own hardware like Apple.
Microsoft's divisions like Office, Windows, XBOX and Skype have always been separate from one another with not a lot of collaboration with each other. The outgoing CEO has decided to change this. The 'One Microsoft' initiative is said to bring all the divisions of Microsoft closer and build services that collaborate with each other and work together as an ecosystem for greater speed and efficiency. There are already signs of this happening with Windows PCs, Windows Tablets, Windows Phone and XBOX One. And on the hardware front, the introduction of Surface Tablets and the acquisition of Nokia only emphasizes the fact the Microsoft wants to build its own hardware like Apple.
There were days when Hardware dictated experience on a gadget, followed by a phase with the likes of the iPhone where the Software was the clear differentiator among the various competing gadgets. We are now at a phase where the Ecosystem a device belongs to decides what kind of experience a user gets. Now is the battle of ecosystems. The Hardware, Software, Apps, Services and the accessories all have a discrete say in how good the experience is on an ecosystem. Apple, Google and Microsoft are the only major players and they are battling it out with each other for building the best ecosystem they can. Which of these ecosystems are the best to invest in? Let's find out by analysing each company’s offering briefly.
Apple Tablets and Phones are the best in the industry and they enjoy a high market share especially in the developed countries. The Apple Appstore along with the iTunes store is considered the best in the industry. iPod is considered the best Music player in the world. But Macs and MacBooks have never taken over the global market share like the iOS devices. They have a marginal market share and have struggled to compete against Windows PCs outside the US. Apple TV has never really seen much success though it is a good device of its class. And Apple’s offerings end there. Their foray into the Web and services on the web is almost nil. Apple’s iCloud never really turned out to be what it promised and Apple hasn’t done much other than the Apple TV, which they call it their ‘Hobby Device’ to own your living room. Apple’s ecosystem is closed and has always been criticized for locking down customers to its ecosystem. With the likes of iPad, iPhone and iPod, Apple really owns the POST-PC category but Apple has this huge uphill battle on the Web, PC and the Living room to face if it really wants to be the best ecosystem.
Google has a mighty presence on the Web with Gmail, Google Search and YouTube. It has a strong presence on the mobile phones too with Android. Google Maps are considered one the best in the industry. Google Docs has seen some traction and is a strong threat to Office on the web. However, Android tablets have failed to eat into the marketshare of the iPad and Nexus 7 is the only bestselling Android Tablet on the market. Coming to PCs, the Chromebooks have never really seen commercial adoption and does not pose any threat to MACs or PCs. The Google TV was a massive failure and so was the Nexus Q, and with Chromecast, Google is looking to get back into the living room. With a dominant presence in the web, Google is set to build an ecosystem with these web services as a backbone, but Google has a lot to achieve in the PC space, do better in the Tablet space and in your Living room to achieve that.
Microsoft have a massive PC marketshare, Office is doing great with the new subscription based Office 365 and XBOX One has taken over 2 million Living rooms in just 2 weeks. Windows phone, especially the Lumia has seen 200% growth year-over-year and SkyDrive has over 250 million users now. However Surface Tablets haven't been a success and Bing has never really taken over Google search. Music and Video services offered by Microsoft are yet to hit critical mass when compared to iTunes and Google Media offering. Applications ecosystem has been the biggest gripe with the Microsoft’s offering. The Windows Phone store has been better than ever but is nothing compared to what Apple AppStore or Google PlayStore can offer. The Windows 8 Store can use a lot more quality apps and games and also has a lot of cleaning up to do.
Some of these problems may be minor and just a stop-gap and the major problems are all set to change with the new vision. But they are preliminary to an ecosystem the reason for slow adoption rates. One of the reasons users didn’t want to invest in Microsoft Services was because of their poor integration and lack of quality apps. Microsoft is set to change this with its ‘One Microsoft’ initiative. If better Apps and features are introduced to the Surface Tablet, it can be a viable Tablet competitor to the iPad. Same applies for the Lumia Smartphone line. Bing search is doing innovative things and stands as the second best to Google Search. Outlook.com has over a 400 million users and is doing well. Recent fixes announced to Skype make it a great communication service to be accompanied with. These are some of the early fruits of the changes made to the vision of the company and the restructuring that goes along with it.
Microsoft already has a great PC marketshare and with little more effort it can do well in the Tablet and Phone space too. With XBOX it has great presence in your living room. SkyDrive, Outlook.com, Skype, Bing and Office for web show the presence in the web and its potential, with Windows for Enterprise and Windows Azure, Microsoft has a mighty presence in the Enterprise where Google and Apple have always failed. Surface Tablets and Nokia acquisition means Microsoft will produce quality hardware like Apple to pair with these services.
Microsoft is the only company that competes with Apple and Google combined on so many fronts, like on the PCs, Tablets, Phones, Web, Living Room and Enterprise. Microsoft's Ecosystem is broad and it is the only company that has viable products in all these domains. If concerted efforts are in place, Microsoft’s Ecosystem can go a long in becoming the best offering yet.
Microsoft has a very ambitious vision here and it all comes down to the Execution and Implementation. Microsoft has always been criticized for bad execution and a incomplete vision. Now they have a grand vision to take over your TV, PC, Tablet, Phone, Web and your Office, but can they execute it well? All is left to be seen.
Microsoft is the only company that competes with Apple and Google combined on so many fronts, like on the PCs, Tablets, Phones, Web, Living Room and Enterprise. Microsoft's Ecosystem is broad and it is the only company that has viable products in all these domains. If concerted efforts are in place, Microsoft’s Ecosystem can go a long in becoming the best offering yet.
Microsoft has a very ambitious vision here and it all comes down to the Execution and Implementation. Microsoft has always been criticized for bad execution and a incomplete vision. Now they have a grand vision to take over your TV, PC, Tablet, Phone, Web and your Office, but can they execute it well? All is left to be seen.