Gates sees IBM not Google as top Microsoft rival

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If you were to ask Bill Gates who Microsoft’s top competitor is, what company would he name? Would it be Apple, Google, or Sony? This question is exactly what a Reuters journalist asked Gates, and Gates answer was none other than IBM.

This answer might seem odd, what with the media's obsession over covering anything Google related. As Gates put it "Google is a cool company to write about". Gates, in a recent BBC interview, highlighted the many rumours circling the company about future products. However, he said the company had only really done well in the search field, and that, he claimed, was something Microsoft would deal with in the coming year.

IBM, no longer cool, but apparently, still deadly. That is understandable seeing how IBM's main market is the business/enterprise, and well, with respect to you, dear Neowin reader, that's not something we think you find very interesting. With a workforce four times that of Microsoft and a yearly revenue that surpasses that of Microsoft, it is not surprising why IBM is in the cross-hairs of Microsoft.

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#1 LTD on 06 Jan 2006 - 00:14

I love this rivalry. I really do.

Your success (and quality) is determined by the kind of entities you aknolwedge as rivals.

Just goes to show how serious Gates is about addressing the everyday needs of customers and businesses. I also respect someone in Bill's position publicly admitting the greater size/power of a rival. It's good PR and it's a very bold and impressive public declaration of war without pulling bullshit or FUD.

Note his admission of Apple's "cool" factor.

(2 replies) #2 Shadrack on 06 Jan 2006 - 00:56

I have a relative that works for IBM and he says that their biggest bread winner is buisness services. That is they send egg heads to your buisness and asses the infrastructure needs.

#2.1 travelcard on 06 Jan 2006 - 12:15

I think that you might have meant "assess" - but your way is better.

#2.2 Shadrack on 06 Jan 2006 - 18:18

heh...umm..yeah assess :shifty:

(2 replies) #3 imtoomuch on 06 Jan 2006 - 01:25

I agree that Google isn't a threat at all and definitely no competition for Microsoft in the big picture. All they have is a good search engine, which keeps getting worse, and a good email service. The rest of their stuff is crap or they bought it from another company.

#3.1 lbmouse on 06 Jan 2006 - 13:50

The above post is just a troll, but I'll bite... replace Google with Microsoft, Microsoft with IBM, bad with good, search engine with OS, bought with stole... and you are right on the money brother!

#3.2 sphbecker on 06 Jan 2006 - 17:43

Between the two lbmouse seems to be the troller. Google is not in direct competition with MS in anything other then Search and Email. While those are important to MS they are not its primary business.

(2 replies) #4 s0nic69 on 06 Jan 2006 - 02:18

i think they just didnt want to admit in public that they see google as a big rival.

#4.1 Rodrigo on 06 Jan 2006 - 06:15

I think Bill Gates knows more about his bussiness than you do about hus bussiness. Correct me if I am wrong.

#4.2 sphbecker on 06 Jan 2006 - 18:10

Google is just the sweetheart of the tech stocks right now and because of that gets a lot of press. Google looks like a good company, but not in the same arena as Microsoft. Google is fierce competition in the search market and is quickly gaining market share of the web-mail market, but is otherwise not giving MS any competition at all really.

PS, if anyone is wondering why Google's stock price shoots up so fast, it has to do with the fact they they have such a small number of shares being traded. If I recall (don't have time to look up the stats) Google has a few million shares being traded, where as most other large companies have hundreds of billions. The small number tends to amplify changes in price. If people start selling Goolge we will see the price drop as quickly as it rose.

(1 reply) #5 LTD on 06 Jan 2006 - 02:29

Google does not produce an OS.

Google does not produce an Office suite.

Google does not come installed on nearly every PC sold.

Google is not a rival at this time. They're also hugely overvalued.

#5.1 KayMan2K on 06 Jan 2006 - 04:08

Not as much as FireFox is over-hyped! <-- Had To Say It

Google DOES directly compete with Microsoft when it comes to Internet and information services, which is where a lot of the current market growth is. They have competing search engines, news portals, email clients, navigation & mapping systems, instant messenger services, and most importantly, Google controls a large portion of Internet advertising (heck, its Google's key money maker).

However, Google's services are mostly targeted to the average PC user whereas Microsoft's profits largely come from business and government contracts.

(4 replies) #6 nicedreams on 06 Jan 2006 - 03:58

How is IBM a rival when they use IBM products? Don't they use IBM processors in their XBOX 360? Isn't a rival someone you don't do business with?

#6.1 KayMan2K on 06 Jan 2006 - 04:03

That's exactly what I thought.

#6.2 n30w1n on 06 Jan 2006 - 06:15

Rivals still collaborate... IBM and Microsoft benifit from each other's technology, despite fighting for the same market. That's what smart companies do.

#6.3 Rodrigo on 06 Jan 2006 - 06:16

Well said n30w1n.

#6.4 ramesees on 06 Jan 2006 - 13:39

There is also such a thing as "cutting off your nose to spite your face"

In other words: "If your competitor has a product that allows you to make a lot of money, why not use it?"

#7 GaMMa on 06 Jan 2006 - 04:39

I'm guessing IBM is competition because Microsoft and IBM are competing for the server market. A server bundled with Windows is profit for Microsoft, but an IBM server will probably be running Linux, which means no cash for MS. No 24/7 support contracts, no software contracts, nothing.

#8 aristotle-dude on 06 Jan 2006 - 07:46

As someone pointed out at slashdot. This is really a smoke screen to distract everyone from their real rivals in specific markets.

It's like the old "look shinny" move when reporters start asking tough questions.

(1 reply) #9 Slugbait on 06 Jan 2006 - 09:10

Up until a few years ago (about four or five years), IBM's software division had always brought in more revenue than Microsoft. Yes, their server software division was a cash cow...but they also had other software. A lot of it. And then they bought Lotus. They had a short love-fest with Apple (with a painful breakup, of which resulted in the return of Jobs to run the show after they parted).

IBM stayed out of the DOJ lawsuit, as far as I remember. They actually write a lot of software for the Windows platform. And they do love the revenue from that Windows software, so yeah, you can hate the people you sleep with, but the sex is still great.

#9.1 LTD on 06 Jan 2006 - 14:16

Good post!

#10 n301 on 06 Jan 2006 - 11:24

Go get em bill....

(1 reply) #11 The Cub on 06 Jan 2006 - 23:19

As Gates put it "Google is a cool company to write about". Gates, in a recent BBC interview, highlighted the many rumours circling the company about future products. However, he said the company had only really done well in the search field, and that, he claimed, was something Microsoft would deal with in the coming year.

Don't know why, but that really made me smile. (might have somthing to do with the two bottles of win I've just polished off)

But yeah, like n301 said. "Go get em bill...."

#11.1 stifler6478 on 06 Jan 2006 - 23:42

Bill Gates came and talked to about 300 of us University of Wisconsin students last October and was asked about Google by a student. He replied with basically the same thing here, saying that they aren't as big a deal as people make them out to be, and that Microsoft has something up their sleeve as far as search engines go. It'll be interesting what that turns out to be.

-Spenser

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