UncleScrooge said:
In effect Blue Ocean strategy is used by smaller companies to avoid competition with bigger ones. Bigger companies don't care about red oceans as much. And yes, yes it is about avoiding competition. That's the basic premise of the strategy: avoiding competition by finding new markets. All the stuff you said is valid but it also goes for Sony. Microsoft wants profits but Sony wants them just as much and needs them more. Again in a head to head battle the bigger company is at an advantage. The point with the original Xbox is invalid. Microsoft could only buy itself into the market because it was able to lose 4 billion dollars - what companies can afford to lose 4 billion dollars? big companies... And don't say "but Sony was a newcomer as well" because you can't compare those situations - Sega and Nintendo made huge mistakes back then which made it possble for Sony to become the market leader at the first try. Also, back in 2000 Sony was way stronger than it is right now. In any case what I said is merely business 1-0-1. If you think a behemoth like Microsoft will let Sony "dominate" them without fighting (and that's basically what you said)... well, you're free to think what you want of course. But what happened during this generation was the exact opposite: Microsoft was willing to shell out more money through the board and that won't change next gen. What you're saying is the healthy company will want to save money but the one in a dire financial situation won't. That's crazy. If Microsoft has the chance to become market leader by shelling out more money they'll gladly do so. |
I'm a Sony fan and don't like the 360 (I actually owned one at some point but it just wasn't for me) but seriously... Microsoft is in a way better position this time. When the 360 launched they were still a newcomer and the Xbox hadn't sold gangbusters. This time Microsoft is more successful in the US, has way more money to spend and can undercut Sony on price (no matter what price Sony launches the PS4 at, Microsoft can release the same console for less money). If anything it's Microsoft that will be smart enough this time not to repeat the RROD fiasco. Sony was way stronger in 2000 than now indeed, but so was Microsoft way more stronger than Sony ever was. They both competed head to head, MS being the bigger company lost. Sony won't dominate next gen, I was being sensational, but they'll gain or lead the global market. Microsofts fundementals are at stake, pc makers feel the heat of tablets. All of those companies sell less pcs except for Lenovo. Intels revenues are going down. Tablets will overtake laptops this year. Microsoft will toss more money at the tablet market than they will on Xbox. We're moving into the post pc era and Microsoft is slowly becoming irrelevant.
