Tuesday, May 11, 2004

Yet another failed hardware play by Microsoft

Microsoft has had numerous forays into the hardware space including UltimateTV, X-Box, and their line of home networking products. Today Microsoft announced that it is getting out of the home networking business. Check out the following interesting quote from the News.com article:

"A source close to the company said Microsoft entered the Wi-Fi field with hopes of 'raising the bar' on security, ease-of-use and performance and now feels it has accomplished those goals. "

Does anyone think that the Microsoft entry into wi-fi accomplished any of these goals? I think the real reason they left the business is that the margins were terrible compared to software and they were getting their butts kicked in the market by Linksys. I believe that products like UltimateTV and this Wi-Fi push are great examples of the company wasting shareholder money. What the company really needs to do is to start paying a huge dividend that will force the company to really focus on investing in business that are strategically important to the business.

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