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Microsoft: The Faint Smell of Rot
happycorp writes "A business reporter for ABC/Fortune
is asking whether Microsoft is poised to collapse, based on years of industry observation
(with successful calls in the past, he notes) rather than
purely technical considerations.
A short read, with this favorite quote:
"if you sniff the air, you can just make out the first hints of rot.""
This kind of "insight" can be applied to almost every company, and it's about as good as Colin Fry's cold reading
Looking for previous Malone predictions I found this gem where he predicts the death of Apple. I quote from the full article:
"No, I think that if Jobs proved anything, it's that the core body of Macolytes is pretty inviolable. It would be very damn hard to lose them. The question is: Can he do much more than he's done right now? He's up against 300 companies. No matter how clever he is, the combined creativity and brainpower of 300 companies ultimately will defeat him. He didn't believe that the first time around. I think he knows that now. That's why I think he's positioned Apple for the big exit. I suspect he's shopping the place around. I hear rumors to that effect but I couldn't confirm them. If he was smart he'd do the same thing as NeXT. Remember, NeXT almost died, he managed to go sideways with it, establish it with a certain amount of prestige but not a lot of long-term potential, and sold it to Apple. He ended up being a hero, but he came within weeks of being a goat. If he can sell Apple and make a ton of money, then he becomes the savior."
No - they have a lot of assests. And "investments". In cash they are about equal with Apple. Have a look at their quarterly earnings.
Huh? How do you figure?
Apple Balance Sheet 25-Sep-04
$2,969,000,000 Cash
$2,495,000,000 Short Term Investments
=
$5.5 billion cash equivalents
Microsoft Balance Sheet 30-Jun-04
$15,982,000,000 Cash
$44,610,000,000 Short Term Investments
=
$60.5 billion cash equivalents