Mary Jo Foley has a blog post entitled Ballmer’s list: Microsoft’s CEO shares his top nine Microsoft growth picks where she writes
Ballmer's guaranteed nine growth spots: 1. Windows client revenues from OEMs (PC makers and system builders) 2. "Desktop value" revenues derived from corporations (big enough to have an IT department). This sounded like Office revenues 3. Server revenues — Windows Server, database, security products. Ballmer said he sees this as an arena where Microsoft has a good opportunity to grow its business vis-a-vis Linux 4. "Mature desktops" — i.e., add-on revenues in corporations where there's already some penetration of Windows and Office. Client-access licenses are a key growth driver here. 5. Emerging market savings — especially due to Genuine Advantage Initiative anti-piracy crackdown campaigns/mechanisms 6. Advertising — especially via adCenter, Microsoft's online ad system — and the properties fueled by it 7. Xbox, particularly in dollars derived from Xbox Live, attached hardware and attached software 8. Sales of Office to small businesses and consumers 9. Windows Mobile operating system sales to cell-phone and PDA makers ... I was surprised that Windows Live — supposedly one of Microsoft's most important strategic efforts — didn't make either of Ballmer's lists. Ballmer did mention services, but talked about it more from a platform perspective, than as a bunch of individual point products.
Ballmer's guaranteed nine growth spots:
1. Windows client revenues from OEMs (PC makers and system builders) 2. "Desktop value" revenues derived from corporations (big enough to have an IT department). This sounded like Office revenues 3. Server revenues — Windows Server, database, security products. Ballmer said he sees this as an arena where Microsoft has a good opportunity to grow its business vis-a-vis Linux 4. "Mature desktops" — i.e., add-on revenues in corporations where there's already some penetration of Windows and Office. Client-access licenses are a key growth driver here. 5. Emerging market savings — especially due to Genuine Advantage Initiative anti-piracy crackdown campaigns/mechanisms 6. Advertising — especially via adCenter, Microsoft's online ad system — and the properties fueled by it 7. Xbox, particularly in dollars derived from Xbox Live, attached hardware and attached software 8. Sales of Office to small businesses and consumers 9. Windows Mobile operating system sales to cell-phone and PDA makers
1. Windows client revenues from OEMs (PC makers and system builders)
2. "Desktop value" revenues derived from corporations (big enough to have an IT department). This sounded like Office revenues
3. Server revenues — Windows Server, database, security products. Ballmer said he sees this as an arena where Microsoft has a good opportunity to grow its business vis-a-vis Linux
4. "Mature desktops" — i.e., add-on revenues in corporations where there's already some penetration of Windows and Office. Client-access licenses are a key growth driver here.
5. Emerging market savings — especially due to Genuine Advantage Initiative anti-piracy crackdown campaigns/mechanisms
6. Advertising — especially via adCenter, Microsoft's online ad system — and the properties fueled by it
7. Xbox, particularly in dollars derived from Xbox Live, attached hardware and attached software
8. Sales of Office to small businesses and consumers
Am I the only one who's wondering why Mary Jo Foley didn't realize that #6 refers to Windows Live?