Steve Ballmer Laughs At Android Threat

by Chris Moor

Speaking at the Australian telecoms company Telstra’s annual investment day, Microsoft’s chief executive Steve Ballmer expressed his lack of concern over the Android threat to Windows Mobile and questioned the platform’s ability to make money.

“I don’t really understand their strategy. Maybe somebody else does. If I went to my shareholder meeting, my analyst meeting, and said: ‘Hey, we’ve just launched a new product that has no revenue model!’… I’m not sure that my investors would take that very well. But that’s kind of what Google’s telling their investors about Android.”

“They can hire smart guys, hire a lot of people… but, you know, they start out way behind in a certain sense.”

Ballmer also went on to list a number of competitors in the mobile operating system market, mentioning the likes of Apple, Symbian, Blackberry and Mobile Linux saying that: “Google doesn’t exactly bubble to the top of the list… They might some day. But right now…”

This isn’t the first time Ballmer has fired shots at the Android operating system, in early October Ballmer spoke to the BBC about his thoughts on the platform and what effect it will have on Windows Mobile.

[via ZDNet.co.uk]

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Comments

http://www.ubikod.com/otmf laurent lathieyre

‘Hey, we’ve just launched a new product that has no revenue model!’

he still doesn’t get it, does he ?
http://www.symbiosis60.com Maciek

This guy is SO UGLY. At least Bill Gates looks like a Geek. Ball(mer) looks like a big bully. On top of that he thinks Windows Mobile is the “IT” os…well..wake up..smell the flowers…it SUCKS.
Nathan

Paraphrase
“I don’t get it. A company whose whole business is on the internet wants to help people use the internet more often? Wants phones to not suck at browsing the web?

I mean, Windows Mobile phones suck at web browsing, but we don’t care because we sell desktop software. You know, which has an actual revenue model. Unlike search-based advertising, or whatever it is that Google does.”
T

“If I went to my shareholder meeting, my analyst meeting, and said: ‘Hey, we’ve just launched a new product that has no revenue model!”

Instead he says: ‘Hey, we’ve just launched a buggy mobile browser that is slower than than a junky playing tennis, but you should look at the revenue model’