Microsoft's Windows NT Could Add to Monopoly Power, Group Says
Washington, June 19 (Bloomberg) -- Microsoft Corp. is trying to extend its Windows market dominance into the market for equipment that connects individual computers with its Windows NT software, said the Software Publishers Association.
The group, openly critical of its largest member in recent months, issued a 34-page study accusing the software giant of trying to extend control of the personal computer market into the $30 billion market for network servers and related computer applications. ''Microsoft's desktop monopoly allows it to extend its monopolistic power to the network server and enterprise application markets as quickly and as decisively as it did on the desktop,'' the report states.
Windows NT, now used mainly by companies with large computer networks, is expected to replace Microsoft's Windows 98 operating system. Windows 98 and its predecessor, Windows 95, fire up about 90 percent of the world's new PCs. The NT system would inherit this powerful market position, and also have the opportunity to extend to computer servers, the equipment intended to replace mainframe computers in linking up individual PCs.
That leaves Microsoft rivals concerned the company will attempt to establish a monopoly in this market, where it competes with Sun Microsystems Inc., Hewlett-Packard Corp., Novell Inc. and International Business Machines Corp.
The Justice Department, which filed a broad antitrust suit against Microsoft last month, is collecting evidence about Windows NT in its continuing investigation of the company. Many in the industry are pushing antitrust enforcers to go after Microsoft on this issue before the company achieves market dominance.
Internet Browsers
The current case, expected to go to trial Sept. 8, alleges Microsoft used anti-competitive behavior to extend its control of the market for PC operating systems into related markets, particularly for Internet browsers.
Today's report is the latest salvo in a bitter battle between the Redmond, Washington-based company and the Washington- based trade group. In February, the group released a set of ''competitive principles'' that indirectly condemned Microsoft's business practices.
Microsoft responded to the latest attack before the report was released. In a letter to Software Publishers Association President Ken Wasch, the company expressed disappointment. ''It is difficult to understand how this pattern of behavior is consistent with the SPA's goals to 'promote and strengthen the industry,' '' said Robert Herbold, Microsoft's chief operating officer. ''Your activities in recent months seem to have accomplished just the opposite.''
The association's board, which represents 1,200 software firms including some of Microsoft's biggest rivals, voted 9 to 4 with one abstention to release the report. ''We're being a good trade association from the big guys to the small entrepreneurial folks,'' said David Phelps, the group's spokesman. ''It's important we identify trends and provide some analysis as to where we believe things are headed.'' |
