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Sendo vs. Microsoft: The Truth Comes Out
igotmybfg writes "The Register has a story which includes many details about the phone maker's Texas suit against the software giant. It seems that Microsoft had much more to gain from letting its partner fail than helping it to succeed: in the event of a bankruptcy, Microsoft acquired all of Sendo's intellectual property related to the z100 Stinger SmartPhone, and was then free to do whatever it wanted, which in this case turned out to be going behind Sendo's back and making a deal with Orange SPA." Read our original article about this to get more background information.
When you're in an unequal partnership with a company the size of Microsoft, you have very little or no leverage to insist on clauses like that.
Well, I don't think anybody forced them at gunpoint to partner with Microsoft in the first place. As a lot of other people already said in this thread: If you go play with the devil you better wear asbestos pants.
- The article says SENDO has only been in business for 2 years.
- Microsoft has to know every little thing they do that even remotely looks bad will make headline news in the trade rags.
- At the time this happened they were in bad shape in the anti-trust trial.
- They must have realized any attempt to screw over SENDO in the overly blatant way SENDO is accusing them of would backfire.
- They have 40+ BILLION dollars in cash laying around.
So, why? why? why? didn't Microsoft just buy SENDO if they needed the information so bad (as SENDO is claiming? The article states a 12 million initial investment by Microsoft and alludes to further promises of money later. For 100 or so million Microsoft could just buy SENDO, take whatever IP they needed, and at worst just resell what they don't want/need. Sure, it might cost a little more, but probably less that the legal defense they must now mount.Again, I just don't get it.
People, stop your frothing and think for a second. What does Microsoft want? Microsoft wants their software on every mobile device made, exactly the same way they want their software on every desktop PC.
Why the HELL would Microsoft, in a market they don't even yet play in, knife their premier partner in order to help another partner succeed? It doesn't make sense. What makes sense is that both hardware companies go to market, both selling compelling versions of a smartphone running Stinger. Robbing Peter to pay Paul is a losing strategy.
Forget business ethics, since we can take it for granted that, if Microsoft even has them, they are newly learned at the hands of the DoJ. Killing Sendo to benefit HTC would be a stupid decision, whatever vestigal IP MS might inherit, because the strategy is to be ubiquitiously licensed by everyone.
I understand that an inflammatory court filing from a nearly bankrupt little company trying to recoup some of its losses in a fat mother's-milk settlement straight from King Midas' teat has you a little stirred up, but the facts just don't add up. MS wins when Sendo AND HTC win, not when one or the other does. Look at the Pocket PC - 4 major vendors, now with Dell on-board. This is the same strategy as Smartphone.
1. They strike a fat deal with MS
2. They fail several deadlines borrowing the money from MS to continue
3. MS folks' patience reaches the boiling point (they get fucked by their management too, you know!). MS pulls out of the deal
4. Sendo makes a huge amount of stink when Microsoft pulls out of the deal
4. Sendo is about to go bankrupt. No wonder, because it hasn't shipped anything
5. Microsoft finds two other companies and strikes the same deal as with Sendo
6. These companies deliver prototypes
7. Sendo makes even more stink by going to court
Mod me down if you want, but I fail to see where's Microsoft's fault here. Another thing, I highly doubt they haven't read their own fine print, which makes all this stink by Sendo a moot point. Contracts are negotiated before you sign them, not after that.