Friday, May 4, 2007

Microsoft + Yahoo > Google?

I read this news this morning and think MS + Yahoo idea is not good. Unless the vision + good strategy in both business and IT fields, the 2nd + 3rd will not be able to beat 1st position. Compaq + HP is the best example.


Source: WSJ news:

(Aticle draft)
Microsoft, Yahoo Reconsider Merger

A year ago, Microsoft Corp. and Yahoo Inc. explored the idea of combining to form a greater competitor to Google Inc.
The talks led nowhere leaving Microsoft and Yahoo to forge their own paths in pursuit of Google. How did they do? Well, they're talking again.
In what appear to be early-stage discussions, executives at Microsoft and Yahoo are taking a fresh look at a merger of the two companies or some kind of match-up that would pair their companies' respective strengths, say people familiar with the situation. (see full article at WSJ)


2 comments:

Phil Provost said...

Here is another article that questions the Microsoft-Yahoo deal...

"David Hallerman, a senior analyst at the research group eMarketer, said he saw many cultural problems and few strategic benefits with a Microsoft-Yahoo combination.

"There's too much overlap between Microsoft and Yahoo, and to try to merge the company cultures of two large companies like that in general is hard," Hallerman said.

Hallerman said Microsoft would be better off buying an ad network to beef up its own operations, the same way Time Warner Inc.'s AOL has seen its advertising revenue grow following the acquisition of Advertising.com's technology and sales force.

Yahoo, meanwhile, would have lost the flexibility it needs to compete if it became one division within a larger company like Microsoft, he said."



Analysts cynical of Microsoft-Yahoo deal

TRON said...

I'm also wondering how their technologies would integrate. Yahoo's run mostly on open-source software; would Microsoft try to convert everything to the MS platform? It took them 3 years to convert Hotmail; it'd likely take much longer for Yahoo. But wouldn't it be embarrassing for them if they didn't?