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Windows 7 Open; Ballmer on the Outlook
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CNBC Silicon Valley Bureau Chief
On competing with Apple and the focus on Apple's growing market share: "Still 4 percent. I don't know why anybody thinks they're selling incredibly well... I admit, they've gone up from whatever it is, 2.5 percent to 3.2 percent, and they're doing well. (So I say, but yeah, even that's a 50 percent increase.) They're doing well. (He smiles.) That's right."
This has got to get under your skin, I ask. Do you even care what about what happens to Apple?
More from CNBC.com:
"Sure we compete with Apple. Apple is a good competitor. It's a good competitor. One we compete well with. It's amazing: people say Apple sells 10 million PCs. There will be 300 million Windows PCs sold in the same time frame. So it is interesting to me people spend so much time talking about the 3 percent of the market in that case."
"Apple again, is a number 3 player in smart phones, but certainly the most talked about number 3 player. Nokia [NOK
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], RIM [RIMM
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], we with our Windows phones, kind of neck and neck, probably a shade behind Apple on that. And it is interesting. It doesn't frustrate me. Apple does interesting work. The market wants to talk about, I just want to compete with it well, and I wouldn't trade our 300 million new users a year for their 10 million. I just wouldn't do it. I kind of like what we're doing and the way we're serving the market."
I asked about Microsoft's ad campaign taking on Apple. I said, it seemed Microsoft was saying, "We have Windows 7, we have the better price, we have the dominant market, and then there's Apple and finally the consumer is coming around to that, or is it more a case that Apple still has the cool factor, we beat 'em on price and people settle for us."
He seemed taken aback by this: "I don't think so Jim. I think the consumer really gets it. Consumers... they're very smart. In aggregate, they buy what they want to buy, with our advertising, without our advertising, with Apple's advertising, without Apple's advertising. They buy what they want to buy. And 300 million of 'em a year choose to buy ours."
We're posting our entire interview. In an upcoming post, Ballmer on the Zune phone, and his job security. Take a listen. It was interesting stuff. And we'll be running clips all day long. I'm very curious about your thoughts on what Ballmer says. Drop me a note and let me know.
Questions? Comments?
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