MS isn't doomed, but it is weakening. This quarterly decline only tells half the story, the other half is that a lot of Microsoft's enemies are growing stronger. Sony is pretty much the only rival Microsoft is beating right now, and even that victory is marginal considering Nintendo's dominance in the console space.
Apple and Google are seeing their profits rise strongly in spite of the downturn. They've all but pushed Windows out of the smartphone arena, and Apple has been slowly, but steadily, eroding Microsoft's consumer PC market while Linux applies pressure in the server market. MS did manage to fend off the threat of Linux-based netbooks by slashing their margins on Windows for netbooks, but now here comes Google with a new OS to threaten that space all over again and who knows what else besides.
Microsoft is besieged on so many fronts, it's no surprise that their dominance is waning. None of their recent attempts to break into new markets have been resounding successes, so it's more of a question of what territory Microsoft will hold rather than what it will gain.
"The worst part about these reviews is they are [subjective]--and their scores often depend on how drunk you got the media at a Street Fighter event." — Mona Hamilton, Capcom Senior VP of Marketing
*Image indefinitely borrowed from BrainBoxLtd without his consent.
