Apple Inc.-The Zune Attack Is Working
Readers of this blog know what I think the strategic value of Zune is to Microsoft (see Why Microsoft Needs Zune). Zune is Microsoft's weapon designed to keep Apple focusing its resources on iPod and not on freeing OS X to compete generically with Windows. The threat to Microsoft is that OS X sold separately from Mac hardware could break the Windows monopoly hold on 95% of the PCs sold worldwide. The Zune attack on iPod is designed to divert Apple resources to defending iPod and away from even contemplating such a move with OS X.
Steve Jobs yesterday verified that this attack is working. His MacWorld keynote was not about Mac. The Mac was mentioned only in passing. It was not about the great new features coming in the next OS X release. Not a word. It was about iPhone. It was about Apple TV. It did not skewer the latest Windows release, Vista, by comparing it unfavorably to OS X, a traditional part of the Jobs MacWorld performance. No, this year, Jobs skewered Zune. That's what Apple is paying attention to.
It was about Apple transitioning from a computer company to focusing on becoming a consumer entertainment powerhouse, a goal well within its reach. Jobs announced this formal strategy change as the reason Apple Computer was changing its name to Apple Inc. He said Apple now has four product lines: Mac, iPod, iPhone and Apple TV.
What he did not say is that Apple was becoming a software company determined to put OS X on everyone's PC. In Redmond, there were sighs of relief from the executive suite. Vista has been launched with no OS X attack. The Zune attack is paying off.
Copyright © 2007 Philip Bookman
Technorati: Business Strategy, Zune, Microsoft, Apple.
Steve Jobs yesterday verified that this attack is working. His MacWorld keynote was not about Mac. The Mac was mentioned only in passing. It was not about the great new features coming in the next OS X release. Not a word. It was about iPhone. It was about Apple TV. It did not skewer the latest Windows release, Vista, by comparing it unfavorably to OS X, a traditional part of the Jobs MacWorld performance. No, this year, Jobs skewered Zune. That's what Apple is paying attention to.
It was about Apple transitioning from a computer company to focusing on becoming a consumer entertainment powerhouse, a goal well within its reach. Jobs announced this formal strategy change as the reason Apple Computer was changing its name to Apple Inc. He said Apple now has four product lines: Mac, iPod, iPhone and Apple TV.
What he did not say is that Apple was becoming a software company determined to put OS X on everyone's PC. In Redmond, there were sighs of relief from the executive suite. Vista has been launched with no OS X attack. The Zune attack is paying off.
Copyright © 2007 Philip Bookman
Technorati: Business Strategy, Zune, Microsoft, Apple.
Labels: Apple, Business Strategy, Microsoft, Zune
posted by Phil Bookman at 10:41 AM
<< Home