Punko - you are missing the truly diabolical business acumen of BG and his boys.
Yes, lack of IP rights protection is a drag. MSFT will not get paid for the "billions and billions". Guess what - IT DOESN'T MATTER!!!!
In fact, IT IS GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD!
I will go further - it would be BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAD if folks in Asia had to pay for MSFT O/S.
Here is the reality: most of those folks can not afford to shell out money for software. So, if it was: pay, or no play, you'd get NO PLAY.
Why should we care if Asians don't get MSFT O/S? Becuase they can't be FUTURE customers hooked on Windows. That would be *BAD*.
Think of it this way: you are the heroin dealer. You GIVE AWAY free heroin to hook new addicts. Those NEW addicts couldn't afford to pay you for the herion anyway - so it is not like you LOST sales.
But now that they are hooked, and if you believe that Asia will one day be wealthier (a given), they WILL start buying your heroin, because they already have an installed base, and need new nifty software from MSFT, and stuff that is legit w/ customer support.
Now, in my analogy, MSFT has an even sweeter deal than the heroin dealer, because MSFT doesn't have to pay to supply the junkies, they copy the software, not that MSFT PAYS to have them take it.
This in fact has been MSFT's strategy from the beginning - loss leaders, giving stuff away for free, not worrying that folks are copying. Look at the opposite strategy from Mac - once upon a time, their O/S was dominant. But they wouldn't licence it, they held control. With PCs, all of Asia was making cheap knock-offs, but it paid off BIG, because MSFT got an installed base of users.
So, it doesn't matter, baby! Let them steal! More power to them!
Bottom line: MSFT is NOT losing sales - they would not have had the $ to pay anyway. And MSFT is getting a huge installed base of users FOR FREE, not spending A DIME. One day, it will pay off. Remember, once upon a time, Japan was a knockoff place too. Today, they are one of their bigger customers.
Morgan |
