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Strategies & Market Trends : The New Economy and its Winners -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Bill Harmond who wrote (15260)	12/9/2002 3:37:56 PM
From: stockman_scott	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 57684

Microsoft's $15 billion broadband bet The Redmond giant has been spreading its money across various broadband ventures. What's left to buy? by Tony Perkins The Red Herring December 9, 2002 redherring.com The Web is getting to the point where we will start seeing some significant new action in the broadband content area. I can just feel it. Of course, when you want to anticipate where the growth opportunities might exist, it is always a good idea to see what's up with Microsoft. If you think of broadband TV as video entertainment output into your living room, Microsoft has spent a huge hunk of dollars to dominate this market so far. And the company is betting across the entire broadband board. My back-of-the-napkin estimate is that Microsoft has spent nearly $15 billion to date to address this market, and this doesn't include the recent moves to invest in telcos in return for mindshare and first place in the queue for broadband TV over an xDSL pipe (deals with the likes of Korea Telecom, Verizon, and British Telecom). Investments in cable: $5 billion (based on public reports) Investment in Xbox: $8 billion (estimated), with another $2 billion over the next two years WebTV: $425 million acquisition and $100 million spent in development UltimateTV: $500 million ($50 million-plus just on launch advertising) Microsoft TV: $500 million and still spending EHome: $50 million to date and of course Windows Media: $1 billion, of which about $50 million has been to ready the product for broadcast quality All that's missing is a studio. Sony's got one, as does AOL. Hey Bill, isn't Vivendi Universal Entertainment in play? Write to Tony Perkins.