Running Head: MICROSOFT COMPETITIVE ENVIRONMENT 1
MICROSOFT COMPETITIVE ENVIRONMENT 5
Microsoft Competitive Environment
Microsoft operates in the software industry that has become the most competitive and innovative in the world today. It has created innovative software over the years that have made it easy for end users to use their computers. It has also made notable advances in internet and computer hardware that have brought a remarkable technological revolution. However, stiff competition has risen in the market. Microsoft has continued to fight its competitors by maintaining creation of innovative products and services to maximize technological innovation and consumer welfare.
According to Microsoft's CEO Satya Nadella, the main competitors currently are Google, Apple, Oracle, VMware, Linux, and Mozilla. Linux and Mozilla are open source software, but have gained customer attention in the recent past. Each of the above poses a different form of competition to Microsoft (Rcpmag.com, 2011).
Google has gained the ability to gain and retain remarkable market share.
Moreover, it is the greatest source of competition for Microsoft because of its capacity to invade multiple markets. It has its line of electronics such as Nexus. Phone companies such as Samsung, LG, and HTC to name just a few, manufacture phones and tablets that run on Google's Android Software. Microsoft launched counter-software dubbed Windows Mobile in a bid to maintain its market share in production of phones. However, the approval rate of android is higher than Windows Mobile (Miller, 2014).
Source: Business Wire, 2013
Google signature online advertising and web search tool has dominated the internet over Microsoft's Bing to a point of threatening Microsoft's to withdraw. Moreover, Google also threatened Microsoft emailing platform when Gmail went public. Gmail has defeated Yahoo and Hotmail to become the third largest webmail service. Microsoft seems to have taken a...