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Microsoft Backs Out Of Wi-Fi Equipment Market
Glenn Fleishman writes "Say it ain't so! Microsoft makes good consumer Wi-Fi equipment but is exiting the market, News.com reports. They'll sell out their inventory, but won't make new models or produce new product. I can't recall a case in which Microsoft had viable products and decent sales and exited instead of spending more money to compete more effectively. Or even when they had non-viable products (Pocket PC's original OS) and spent years and billions before they had something that worked. Perhaps competition from Cisco (Linksys subsidiary), NetGear, and even Apple (which has a disproportionate marketshare) made MSFT blink."
Microsoft had no real way to apply "embrace and extend" into the networking world. When it comes down to it, there isn't much different between equal models accross the brands on the consumer networking shelf.
I've even noticed some AT&T-branded networking equipment showing up at CompUSA stores. More or less, that shelf was getting a little too crowded and stores were going to drop the weakest link if Microsoft or some other player didn't gracefully bow out soon.
Perhaps it is because they don't see anything great and revolutionary in Wireless LAN hardware- you obey a spec, the interesting part to the user is the software interface, and Microsoft controls that still.
The other examples (like PDA devices) represent entirely new niches in the market, or (like mice) represent strong branding oppurtunities- if you make a good product that someone handles everyday, that's decent profits and good PR (I'm a Logitech fan myself, even swapped out the MX300's red LED for a violet one).
I'm sure tech analysists and security experts thought of that long before you did. If your assertions were true, I think the case would have been blown wide open. Besides, it would be far too easy to pick up on any traffic reporting via any traffic sniffer.
...has always made me look to other manufacturers. I mean, seriously. I'm not trying to be an anti-M$ zealot or anything, but I trust hardware manufacturers who SPECIALIZE in hardware, not software. It'd be like buying a Jello-brand car. Sure, they make great jello, but...
It is pitch black. You are likely to be eaten by a grue.
Don't know if anyone remembers these, but there is a precedent for MS releasing hardware and pulling it. They had a 900 mhz. "phone system" that had 2 cordless phones and a computer hub. Sold it for a year, pulled it. They released a speaker system that they pulled within a year or so. And, they have apparently stopped manufacturing SIDEWINDER gaming peripherals (sp?). Might be more. That's off the top of my head.
My good looks paid for that pool, and my talent filled it with water.
I thought there were consumer protection laws that stipulate the availability of service and support for 7 years from the date of the original sale. Isn't two years a fairly short end of life cycle for a consumer electronics product?
I know of no such law. Once your warranty is up, you're at the vendor's mercy for what kind of support, if any, is going to be available to you.
This is more or less what always happens when a vendor discontinues a product line... you've got an orphan product that you might as well toss when it breaks.
Then again, what's the point of servicing a broken $50 router... most flaws that would cause it to stop working usually are more expensive to fix than the thing's worth.