Posted by Will Stabley on Jul 13, 2013 in News, Tech |
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has announced a sweeping reorganization of the company which scraps its longtime business model of pitting each of its internal units against each other for competitive purposes, in favor of an all-for-one model which has everyone at Microsoft working toward the same larger goals. The mere fact that it’s taken Ballmer thirteen years to figure this out is enough to cast doubt on his ability to lead Microsoft in this century. But a look at the near total lack of successes under his tenure is enough to make the case for his outright ouster.
The laundry list of failures under Steve Ballmer is the stuff of legend. Microsoft tent pole products Windows, Office, and Internet Explorer have all lost marketshare as attempts at the tablet, smartphone, and music player markets have all failed. In thirteen years Ballmer has one major success to his credit, the rise of the Xbox gaming platform, but even that success is tempered by a botched Xbox One launch and the departure of the Xbox team leader from the company.
Ballmer can’t be blamed for the fact that consumers are shifting from PCs to mobile devices, weighing down the revenue of Windows. But Microsoft has spent years failing in the smartphone market even as iPhone and Android have made it look easy. And Ballmer refused to enter the tablet market until it was too late to find an easy road in. So as Steve Ballmer reorganizes Microsoft around his vision for the future, it’s fair to ask if he really has one.
Will Stabley is the Founder and Senior Editor of Stabley Times.
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has announced a sweeping reorganization of the company which scraps its longtime business model of pitting each of its internal units against each other for competitive purposes, in favor of an all-for-one model which has everyone at Microsoft working toward the same larger goals. The mere fact that it’s taken Ballmer thirteen years to figure this out is enough to cast doubt on his ability to lead Microsoft in this century. But a look at the near total lack of successes under his tenure is enough to make the case for his outright ouster.
The laundry list of failures under Steve Ballmer is the stuff of legend. Microsoft tent pole products Windows, Office, and Internet Explorer have all lost marketshare as attempts at the tablet, smartphone, and music player markets have all failed. In thirteen years Ballmer has one major success to his credit, the rise of the Xbox gaming platform, but even that success is tempered by a botched Xbox One launch and the departure of the Xbox team leader from the company.
Ballmer can’t be blamed for the fact that consumers are shifting from PCs to mobile devices, weighing down the revenue of Windows. But Microsoft has spent years failing in the smartphone market even as iPhone and Android have made it look easy. And Ballmer refused to enter the tablet market until it was too late to find an easy road in. So as Steve Ballmer reorganizes Microsoft around his vision for the future, it’s fair to ask if he really has one.
Will Stabley is the Founder and Senior Editor of Stabley Times.