Will
the history repeat itself? The war for supremacy in the
technology industry, which is currently underway between Google
and Microsoft, is very much reminiscent of that between IBM
and Microsoft during the 1990s. Microsoft was at that time
nine times smaller than IBM in terms of revenues. However,
it took just eight years for the Bill Gatespromoted firm
to topple the Big Blue from the top slot. This may give hope
to Google and its fans across the globe that the next battle
for supremacy of the tech world may see the search giant dethrone
the mighty Microsoft.
Google
is the undisputed king of search business and in a way rules
the world of Internet, which has so far proved to be the Achilles'
heel for Microsoft. Google's growing online advertising businessa
lucrative oneand its search market share of over 49% are a
cause of concern to Microsoft. With its robust online business,
Google is able to provide its users a myriad of free applications
like Gmail, Google Talk, Google maps, Google Earth, Google
Ad words, Google Base and Google print, which are very popular
among Internet users, and in the process winning greater mindshare.
However,
what is more worrying for Microsoft is the fact that Google
is increasingly trying to encroach into areas which no technology
firm has dared to enter and has remained unchallenged so far.
But Google is then no ordinary tech firm. Its rise to fame
and glory in the technology industry is folklore among cyber
geeks. It is unconventional and a daredevil. Despite best
efforts from Yahoo!, MSN and a host of other challengers,
Google has remained the most admired and visited search website
in the world to date. Even when it comes to nontechnology
issues like corporate governance or its Dutch auctionbased
IPO, Google has shown that it is innovative. This is why its
recent actions are causing anxious moments for Microsoft.
First, it was the acquisition of Writely, a word processing
application; then it introduced its version of spreadsheet;
and now Google is planning to launch an Operating System.
Experts say that these all will pose a serious challenge to
the hegemony of Microsoft in its core business. |
