Microsoft's Search Engine Struggles
1 How has Microsoft responded to competitive opportunities in the past? What patterns do you see?
Microsoft’s Search
threats
and
From the very beginning Microsoft looked at opportunities through a lens of long term prospects. Starting with MS-DOS, Microsoft sold only its “rights to use” to IBM expecting that others developing similar systems will have the need to use similar control software. Developing this first opportunity, Microsoft established the Microsoft brand with its first equity component, the power of the computer operating system. In order to strengthen its brand equity Microsoft developed support teams and offered free developer tools to attract software houses, so that they will start developing applications for the PC and the MS-DOS. The first serious threat to Microsoft surfaced when Apple introduced the Macintosh, which offered a completely new approach to the meaning of user experience when it comes to operating a computer. The Apple threat was two-fold: first, Apple could capture a significant portion of the PC sales translating to lost opportunities for the Microsoft OS; second, Apple may decide to spin its OS to work on PCs. To ensure that Apple will not cannibalize its share of the OS business, Microsoft started a parallel developing effort of a new OS that featured a graphic user interface. Simultaneously, Microsoft approached its potentially future rival and offered to develop productivity applications for Apple, when no other software house showed interest in Apple due to its limited market share and its closed environment. This move from Microsoft’s side allowed Microsoft to gain deeper understanding of Apple’s operating system and user interface, which helped Microsoft in its own efforts to develop its Windows OS using its own graphic user interface. Microsoft also saw opportunities in application development. However, as it was difficult to compete with an already well-established market dominated by WordPerfect and Lotus,
Microsoft’s Search
threats
and
From the very beginning Microsoft looked at opportunities through a lens of long term prospects. Starting with MS-DOS, Microsoft sold only its “rights to use” to IBM expecting that others developing similar systems will have the need to use similar control software. Developing this first opportunity, Microsoft established the Microsoft brand with its first equity component, the power of the computer operating system. In order to strengthen its brand equity Microsoft developed support teams and offered free developer tools to attract software houses, so that they will start developing applications for the PC and the MS-DOS. The first serious threat to Microsoft surfaced when Apple introduced the Macintosh, which offered a completely new approach to the meaning of user experience when it comes to operating a computer. The Apple threat was two-fold: first, Apple could capture a significant portion of the PC sales translating to lost opportunities for the Microsoft OS; second, Apple may decide to spin its OS to work on PCs. To ensure that Apple will not cannibalize its share of the OS business, Microsoft started a parallel developing effort of a new OS that featured a graphic user interface. Simultaneously, Microsoft approached its potentially future rival and offered to develop productivity applications for Apple, when no other software house showed interest in Apple due to its limited market share and its closed environment. This move from Microsoft’s side allowed Microsoft to gain deeper understanding of Apple’s operating system and user interface, which helped Microsoft in its own efforts to develop its Windows OS using its own graphic user interface. Microsoft also saw opportunities in application development. However, as it was difficult to compete with an already well-established market dominated by WordPerfect and Lotus,