[vekiuytyh]

If this happens, I'll make partner in no time

[zenihan]

My main client would be sending out a ton of RFPs for consulting work.

[gugamotina]

This could actually dip into MS's cash reserves.

[Hdzcxqoi]

MS seriously needs to do something about its cash reserves.

[casinobonusese]

Exactly. Way too much.

[ssupermegatone]

Originally posted by Pekka
Are you kidding me? They have ~$30bil in cash, not tied to anything? That would be weird. I mean, even if you're doing obscenely great, I'd think you'd want to invest it or do something other than keep it laying around. They have been doing that. The problem is they make money faster than they can sell it.

The Xbox still loses money.

[SobiquYo]

Originally posted by LordShiva
Exactly. Way too much. theres a saying about a company with cash reserves either knows the road ahead is rough or isnt trying to make enough.

[Varbaiskkic]

but they are a bunch of tightwads... they even complain about google not being such

[bZEUWO4F]

Originally posted by LordShiva
MS seriously needs to do something about its cash reserves. QFT.

[RjkVwPcV]

MS is still #1.
Market Cap:
MSFT: 291.33B
GOOG: 146.80B
YHOO: 44.93B

Although market cap is an imperfect tool for this measurement, it's reasonable, and better than most (especially when you have this dramatic of a difference). Yahoo in particular is probably undervalued here as it's been a long time since it was a 'hit' stock, and it has a lot of power on the internet; certainly more than 1/3 of Google's (I'd say between 1/2 and 2/3).

[HoqCBYMl]

MS is buying out Yahoo. Therefore market cap is a quite reasonable metric for this.

Microsoft competes with Google for your attention and use. Both would like to be the primary, or only, company's services you use to navigate the internet and your home computing needs. MS currently does the latter more than the former, and Google currently does the former more than the latter, but they both are interested in both fields.

In this case, it's not a matter of controlling one area of the market, as more of a vertical monopoly. MS has had more actual complaints, IIRC, in that field - leading them to not be able to build an actual computer of their own, and requiring them to not package IE as mandatory software - and I'm interested to see how far they're able to go in dominating software and internet technology until regulatory bodies intervene. If anything, Google's surging power gives MS a bit of a break in that field - three or four years ago, if MS had offered to buy Yahoo, would anyone have imagined it would pass regulatory snuff?

[errolurberozy]

Originally posted by snoopy369
MS is buying out Yahoo. Therefore market cap is a quite reasonable metric for this. Only to see if it's possible. Not for antitrust.

Microsoft competes with Google for your attention and use. Both would like to be the primary, or only, company's services you use to navigate the internet and your home computing needs. MS currently does the latter more than the former, and Google currently does the former more than the latter, but they both are interested in both fields.

Their only area of competition is search. Period. Google does not compete with Windows, does not compete with Office, does not compete with Xbox, does not compete with SQL Server, does not compete with Zune... MS has only ~12% marketshare in search, versus Google's 43% and Yahoo's 28%. They're the underdog in this market.

In this case, it's not a matter of controlling one area of the market, as more of a vertical monopoly.

There's no vertical monopoly apart from the fact that IE7 defaults to Live search, but offers Google as an option too.

[crumoursegemo]

Do you know what a vertical monopoly is? I don't think you do... A vertical monopoly is one in which a monopolist controls not only the primary business, but other aspects of business related to the distribution and sale of the primary business.

MS has an effective monopoly on operating systems. They also are the market leader in Internet Web Browsers. The conclusion to that vertical monopoly would be an Internet Portal... which is what Yahoo! provides. Not only a strong presence in search, but video, and other 'internet solutions'. Regulators would be interested if the concern was that MSFT would have the power to muscle Google out simply through its operating system and web browser control [e.g., using IE to favor Yahoo over Google in terms of website construction; integrating Yahoo elements into Windows; etc.]

OS and browser are linked to internet portal [which is Google's role, by the way, by no means is search even its primary business application any more] in a way strikingly similar to Standard Oil's monopoly at the turn of the century. The fact that MS hasn't recently behaved in this way is nearly irrelevant to me - they did behave in a monopolistic manner in the past, and were successful in it even if they were eventually slapped on the wrist by the courts. Who exactly uses Netscape nowadays...

[MarlboroCig]

snoop, you need to stop digging yourself deeper

[b7RKli4l]

Yahoo isn't a cool company either.