Porter’s Five Forces Analysis for Microsoft Essay

In more recent years, the Microsoft Corporation has repeatedly been accused of having a monopoly on the software market (Rise of monopolies 1996). Microsoft

This, of course, means competition, which in turn lowers prices. Macintosh systems are sold primarily sold in whole systems which are composed of RAM and processor speed, meaning that the consumer ends up with what Apple has decided should be included in the system. Windows systems, however, can be built to the consumer needs, or by the consumer themselves. They could select which part would be best for them for the price they would pay for it.

According to the Department of Justice, Microsoft used its resources and technology to drive other companies out of business, thereby eliminating the competition and creating a monopoly. Without competition, Microsoft was able to set prices and consumer conditions in a way that exceedingly benefited the company while ensuring a decreased amount of new competition because of the proprietary software installed in most PCs. (Competitive Processes, Anticompetitive Practices and Consumer Harm in the Software

Microsoft has their dominance of the industry at stake. They could potentially come out on top if left to continue their current tactics. They are masterfully “marketing their products” and it is paying off for them (Love, 1997).

Microsoft is a highly diversified company. Its technologically-related products span from software to music players to game consoles to web browsers to search engines to phones. However, its flagship product, the product which has been the primary driver of its profits has been Microsoft Windows, the ubiquitous operating system that runs on virtually every computer in the world. Windows has been deemed so critical that even Microsoft's competitor Apple was effectively forced by market pressures to allow its Macs to run Windows, in an effort to boost sales. "As astounding as Apple's success has been, it hasn't put a dent in the Microsoft Office monopoly. [Current CEO] Ballmer and company still profit on every Macbook running Word, Excel and PowerPoint" (Greg 2012).But while Microsoft continues to make its highly profitable Windows products (despite industry criticism about its user features); it has struggled to diversify in its many critical areas, most notable in its music, phones, and Internet service.

When people think buying a new computer, they will normally call to mind about the Microsoft, Microsoft operating system use on more than 90% computer in the world. Microsoft operating system is more users friendly. Microsoft operating system can compatible with more software compare to other competitor

Microsoft has grown into an enormous and powerful corporation by a combination of aggressive business practices and having written operating systems (DOS and Windows) for personal computers. From operating systems it branched out into other software which has, along with the operating system, become something of an industry standard.

Another competitive strategy that could be considered would be increasing the target audience. Microsoft has consent to make a bold play for the workplace while leaving the school market open for Apple. The idea was that if adults were using Microsoft OS at work all day, then they would be more likely to purchase the OS for their home PC. This was a good strategy in the beginning but may need to be changed for future sales. Microsoft will have major competition with Apple over the next five years because schools of all levels are expected to switch from computers to iPads. This may possibly hurt Microsoft’s future sales because as the students enter the real world they will continue to depend on Apple for their future computer needs (Hughes, 2011).

At its core, Porter’s 5 forces describes a firms overall ability to compete in a market. We discuss our analysis of the 5 forces and how they affect SAS Corporation and its stakeholders. Please examine Figure 1.1 to view a diagram that depicts the 5 forces.

Windows” (“Microsoft: Court’s…). Microsoft implies that there still is competition; such as Mac OS, Linux, and other operating systems. Though this claim may have support, the “District Court found that Windows accounts for a greater than

As a matter of legal and economic fact, Microsoft is at least ‘monopolistic’. It has such a commanding share of the operating systems market that it can, in many respects, behave like a monopoly.

Windows, a program that was created in 1983, but did not change the market significantly until 1990, has grown to control 94.1% of the operating system market (Newman). This has required other companies in the software industry to make all of their applications Windows compatible. Critics claim that Microsoft systematically eliminated all competition of other operating systems and software manufacturers. Microsoft also controls a large part of the software industry. According to sales from April 2002, Microsoft sold 89% of office software to consumers (Washington Post). Microsoft bundles these applications with the Windows operating system, which is, according to them, an effective technique. Critics assert that this forces other makers of office software, like Corel, to lose business, because consumers will not buy another application if one is already pre-installed. Critics point to the proposed 1995 merger between Microsoft and Inuit which ultimately failed. Inuit is the maker of the best-selling money management

Microsoft has been fighting competitors in the Operating System fields as well as the Search field for many years. After Apple launched its new Macintosh computer, Microsoft came out with its first production of Windows which had a graphic user interface. Microsoft had 95% of all OS on individual PC’s in the 2000’s where apple only had about 2%-3% (Rivkin 2). A new venture that Microsoft was working toward was application software where the produced Microsoft Word and Excel. At first these two applications where not very popular on PC computers because WordPerfect and Lotus 1-2-3 where the main applications being run. Microsoft’s solution to this competition was

Microsoft operates in many geographic locations around the world and are behind the world’s most popular desktop operating system in the world. Microsoft is primarily a software company but have flexed their arms into internet services and are behind certain products in consumer market which is directly against Google. Microsoft’s market includes end-customers, enterprises and institutions just like Google. Some of the key Microsoft products are Bing which is a search engine just like Google.com and Microsoft ad center which is a direct

Microsoft (MS) is a multinational computer technology corporation that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of software products for computing devices. In the mid 1990’s, Microsoft held the monopoly in the production of Operating Systems (OS) for personal computers (PC). When their monopoly was threatened by Netscape, MS began bundling the Internet Explorer (IE) web browser with Windows, using cross-promotional deals with internet service providers (ISP), and prevented PC makers from customizing the opening screen showing Microsoft. These actions, which some view as illegal and unethical, dissolved any competition, raised the barriers of entry and inhibited