They site little market penetration as evidence of a failed product launch. But then, I have a friend who always says, "Don't count Microsoft out, they have very smart people and a lot of money." Perhaps it is too soon to talk about the demise of a product line. Zune was one such failure, but I think that Microsoft knows they are way behind the power curve when it comes to mobile devices and people and organizations with money have a tendency to throw more good money after bad--just because they feel they don't have an alternative.
The recent reorganization announced by Microsoft reminds me of a story.
A new director reported to work and found three envelopes on his desk. He was taking over from someone who was fired. The sheet of instructions said this, "When you get in trouble, open each envelope in sequence--they were marked 1-2-3." It didn't take long and there was a big problem in the organization that didn't have an easy solution. The new director opened the first envelope and it said, "Blame me!" That is what he did, blaming the previous director for the situation at hand. Time went by and another thorny problem revealed itself. So, the new director opened envelope 2 which said, "Reorganize." He promptly reorganized his department and announced progress towards solving the issue at hand. Finally after a couple of years another really huge issue presented itself. Thinking he had one more "ace in the hole" he opened letter number 3. It said, "Prepare three envelopes." I don't know when Mr. Ballmer will get to the third envelope left for him by Bill Gates, but it could be coming eventually.
