Microsoft's Unclucky Breaks

Well i hope there will be no one who doesn't know microsoft in this world of technolgy. Microsoft has seen many up and downs in its journey. Well one can say that it is the hardwork of billgates the tech savy who brought microsoft to this level . Microsoft has got many Lucky breaks in its early stages of growth. Like deal from IBM or Apple or any other deal getting succeded was a lucky break for them

But i found an interesting article in "macdailynews" which says about 10 unlucky breaks for microsoft.

. World Wide Web: Microsoft can't put the Internet genie back in its bottle. Too alluring is the promise of anytime, anywhere informational access on any device, with no Windows required... Microsoft can't succeed. The mobile phone and Web browser is the killer combination that will eventually undo Microsoft's desktop hegemony. What bad luck.

2. The United States vs. Microsoft: The May 1998 antitrust case left deep scars on Microsoft, and forever damaged the company's image. Microsoft carries the stigma of convicted monopolist. The U.S. antitrust case led to more than 100 other lawsuits, most of which Microsoft settled. Dissatisfaction with the outcome here spurred on competitors and antitrust investigators in Europe. In March 2004, the European Union's Competition Commission found that Microsoft violated local antitrust laws. An appeals court would later agree. Since the ruling, the European Competition has fined Microsoft and launched two other antitrust investigations. The damage to Microsoft is simply incalculable.

3. September 2008 economic crisis: Global economic gloom is bad luck for pretty much everybody. But Microsoft has unique exposure... Microsoft is in a unique position of misery. Among various companies, cutbacks here, layoffs there, bankruptcies elsewhere will have limited impact on technology and other suppliers. Microsoft's products are used *everywhere*, so the potential sales harm is greater.

4. The Google economy: Google succeeded at the search advertising business pioneered by Overture. Finally, somebody figured out how to generate real revenue from the Web.

5. Windows Vista: No Microsoft competitor could have launched an anti-marketing campaign as effective as Windows Vista. The operating system damaged Microsoft's brand and the company's credibility with customers, particularly businesses.

6. Apple's May and October surprises: In 2001, three seemingly small Apple events kicked off pebbles that later set off an avalanche. In March, Apple released Mac OS X and again in September with the 10.1 upgrade. In May, the first two Apple retail stores opened in California and Virginia. In October, the first iPod shipped. Folklore has it that bad luck comes in threes.

7. Linus Torvalds develops Linux: Consistently causes sales problems for Microsoft.

8. Passing on YouTube: In October 2006, Google announced the acquisition of YouTube for $1.6 billion. Six months earlier, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer passed on buying the video startup for about $500 million. If ComScore ranked YouTube as a search engine, the video sharing site would be No. 2, ahead of Yahoo.

9. Stock doldrums: Microsoft's share price peaked at around $58 in December 1999, and it has not gone much of anywhere since.

10. Windows XP launch: Subdued due to Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.