Stocks 06 Jan 2008 05:39 pm
Shit: Microsoft Live
I am a huge XBOX Live fan. I purchased an XBOX 360, and enjoy both the hardware and the software. One of the greatest games of all time is one I play all the time and love.. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
When it works…….
I am not only a consumer, I am an investor hell bent of making money in the stock market. Sometimes a consumer experience is relevant in investing in a company, and other times the underlying stock value has little to do with an individual customer experience.
In the case of Microsoft (MSFT), my bad individual customer experiences have been reflective of not only many customers, but most customers. Microsoft in their gaming divisions have done some things right, and it has built them an impressive lead. In other areas, Microsoft has execute so poorly, they are not only in danger of squandering their lead, but making me believe their fumbles are systemic in all divisions.
The Hardware:
This is the most obvious of Microsoft’s failures. The XBOX360 is quite simply a huge piece of shit. No one really knows the failure rates, but many users have had multiple systems fail. Mine has failed, 2/3rds of my friends have failed, and it’s so common, the local mail carrier carts off dozens of them a week.
This failure is inexcusable. There is nothing cutting edge or revolutionary about the 360. It is a generic legacy free PC. It uses a CPU, GPU, basic motherboard, harddrive, DVD, and USB connectors. Cheap PC makers pump out hundreds of different models and configurations on a montly basis, and NONE have the failure rates of the XBOX360 which has nearly identical physical components on all of them. No multiple drivers or systems to integrate.
Microsoft succeeded in becoming the worlds worst PC maker inside 18 months. This error has cost them billions of dollars. No one knows the complete numbers, but considering they were losing money on the consoles already, the cost has to be staggering. The good news is that those issues seem to finally be resolved.
The fact is, this never should have happened. Again, this is a basic PC. Soney (SNE) built theirs from the ground up with essentially custom made hardware, half of which they developed. They have a failure rate estimated at 2-3%. Sony has their own spectular failures, but from a strictly build perspective, Microsoft looks like a bunch of fucking amateurs. I can only assume they shit-canned the responsible party.
XBOX LIVE:
Recently, XBOX LIVE has been suffering huge setbacks. Over the holiday season, the millions of new users tried to sign on. Guess what. Microsoft wasn’t ready. After all of the examples of companies not being ready for the online onslaught, you’d think Microsoft, and technology company, would be prepared.
Microsoft keeps such close tabs, they can tell which store sold which XBOX360 by tracking the serial number. Try returning your xbox at a wal-mart when you didn’t purchase one there. You can see that they indeed track the purchases. Microsoft offers their LIVE service to all new purchases, so they know exactly how many they have sold and now many they expect to sign up for their service.
They know the demand. Their poor excuse isn’t acceptable. They will lose so many customers because they cannot make up for their poor first impression. First impressions are so incredibly sticky, that their lame attempt at a free download shows their lack of customer service. Don’t offer freebies on a service that is broken. How lame is that?
This is the holiday season. Make or break time for retailers. Microsoft has moved from an OS company, to a consumer products company. They are selling product to consumers who cannot, and wont dedicate time and skill to get a product working. This isn’t Microsoft Server 2000. You don’t own a virtual monopoly in this sector.
The market is in a down phase currently. I think the tech is oversold, but will continue to go down during panic selling. I think it’s a good time to s - l - o - w - y accumulate names like Intel, Apple, NOK, SUNW, etc. They are selling low, and might get to historically low P/E levels. That means you might have a killer portfolio in 3-5 years.
Microsoft I cannot give a thumbs up. They keep making mistake after mistake. Vista, despite the sales numbers, is not a good product. XP was a dream to install and setup and made a huge difference in my quality of computer. Vista just plain doesn’t do that.
Microsoft is a thumbs down. Apple, Intel, NOK are thumbs up.
