Elwood,
I had not seen the money manager survey. It looks good. My golf game was good today. I found the following some what interesting. I have seen interviews where it was stated that DOJ does not intend to delay Win 98. This article seems to put a different spin on the situation. Hope the street puts this in prospective, but a little voice tells me tomorrow could be interesting.
NW
Subj: Microsoft Warns Wall Street
Date: 98-05-03 20:05:52 EDT
Microsoft Warns Wall Street
.c The Associated Press
By TED BRIDIS
WASHINGTON (AP) - Increasingly worried about looming antitrust action, Microsoft is warning Wall Street that any delay in the release of its upcoming Windows 98 software would also carry ''broad, negative consequences not just for Microsoft but for the entire PC industry.''
In a letter sent overnight Sunday, Microsoft Chief Financial Officer Greg Maffei wrote to about 150 stock analysts, software companies and venture capitalists to say Microsoft wasn't sure whether the Justice Department or state attorneys general will try to interfere with the launch of Windows 98.
But Maffei said the purpose of his letter was to ''outline the possible financial ramifications of such regulatory action.''
He said the largest computer makers ''have already geared up major Windows 98-based marketing and advertising campaigns to tap that early rush. These expenditures will be lost if Windows 98 is delayed or blocked, and they will also be wasted if the Justice Department attempts to remove Internet features from the operating system.''
The letter of portending doom was similar in tone to one signed last week by executives of 26 of the nation's leading technology companies, including the chairmen of Intel Corp., Micron Electronics, Dell Computer Corp., Compaq Computer Corp. and Hewlett-Packard Co.
They also warned against any efforts to delay the shipment of Windows 98, the $109 upgrade to the system software that runs virtually all home computers. It's expected to be sent within weeks to computer makers, and to hit retail shelves June 25.
Some economists have disputed the most dire warnings, cautioning that any financial damage resulting from delays is likely to be limited to a handful of high-tech companies. Microsoft's most vocal critics argued there is no evidence that any major harm would come from a Windows 98 delay.
The Justice Department has been investigating whether Microsoft used the dominance of its Windows operating systems to illegally crimp competition. The agency also has complained that Microsoft illegally forces computer makers that sell Windows 95 to also sell Microsoft's Internet browser.
Microsoft also has bundled its Internet browser within Windows 98, raising the question of whether the Justice Department - or a collection of state attorneys general - might try to temporarily block the sale of the new software for some of the same reasons they had complained about Windows 95.
''You hear different things,'' Maffei said Sunday night in a telephone interview. ''They have not outlined their legal strategies for us, but we certainly have seen the reports in the paper that some states look to be seeking a potential preliminary injunction against Windows 98.''
Sources said lawyers from a number of attorneys general met with Microsoft last week at the company's request, on Thursday in New York and on Friday in Chicago, to discuss Windows 98 in particular. Earlier last week, Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal told The New York Times that a joint antitrust action by states ''is imminent, and in my opinion some action is likely.''
Microsoft also is organizing a show of support for Windows 98 in New York this week, probably on Tuesday, by various software and hardware companies.
Companies likely hit hardest by Windows 98 delays are those with products based on new technology in the software upgrade, including new types of equipment such as scanners or joysticks that Windows 98 will support.
''A delay in the launch of Windows 98 will leave (computer makers) with lost or deferred sales, wasted marketing and advertising, higher support costs ... and other substantial losses,'' Maffei wrote.
For example, last week the president and chief executive officer of Storm Technology Inc. told PC Week that delays to Windows 98 could reduce the company's 1998 revenues by as much as 20 percent. The Mountain View, Calif.-based company has been waiting for Windows 98 before widely releasing its new scanner.
AP-NY-05-03-98 2002EDT |
