Telstra has revealed the addition of almost one million new mobile services in the six months to December 2011, but Sensis revenues plummeted 24 percent in 12 months.
Two things are clear about the impending release of Windows Vista. One is that come hell or high water Microsoft intends to get the new operating system out the door in January 2007. The second is that Microsoft will be pulling out all stops to get Vista on desktops in January by offering free or at least heavily discounted upgrades to 2006 holiday season buyers.
These reports are of course leaking out from stories fed by Microsoft
itself through media services such as Bloomberg and Reuters.
The problem for Microsoft is that after five years of keeping customers
waiting for Vista it feels it cannot afford another slip in the release
date. However, January is a less than ideal time for a new consumer
product release, coming straight after the holiday shopping season.
PC makers are worried that the prospect of a January Vista release will
inhibit holiday shoppers from buying computers until 2007. Thus,
Microsoft and the hardware manufacturers are already discussing
incentive deals that would enable holiday PC buyers to upgrade to Vista
for little or no added cost. One such deal that has been suggested is
offering purchasers free Vista upgrade coupons.
Unfortunately for both Microsoft and the PC makers is that the holiday
season is still four months away. Between now and then is the end of
the Northern Hemisphere summer and the start of school, when parents
often make computer purchases for education purposes.
With all the loose talk of free or discounted Vista upgrades in
December, prospective PC buyers in August and September may well feel
justified in waiting the extra three months before parting with their
hard-earned money.
Looking at this from Microsoft's point of view, one would think the
software company has little to lose and much to gain by offering free
upgrade coupons immediately. It would encourage PC buyers not to delay
their purchasing decisions between now and the realse of Vista. After
all, why should a PC buyer have to purchase an operating system twice
within the space of four months?
David Bass
| For the fourth year in a row, IDC has placed content security provider Websense (NASDAQ: WBSN) at the top of the IDC Worldwide Web Security 2011 –…
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