The Microsoft break-up seems like a good idea at the moment, but the US Justice Department and consumer advocates might come to regret the day they ever suggested it. In the first place, splitting Microsoft will be very difficult. Second, there is a strong possibility that doing so will create a global Hydra, a brand that succeeds in replicating itself hundreds of times in every conceivable internet product space. My suspicions have been aroused by new figures from NetValue which show Microsoft high on the list of leading web sites in a number of countries.
It appears that a global elite of web sites is emerging. These sites are market leaders in many countries, but do not appear dependent on local culture for success. On the whole, they are the usual suspects - AOL, MSN, Yahoo! and Microsoft all figure highly on most lists - yet Amazon does not make the top 10 in any country.
Microsoft is exceptional. It is not a portal or a search engine in its own right, like most of the other leading sites; it is in so many regional top 10 tables because the software company has such a large market share of desktops that customers visit the site looking to either buy software or get troubleshooting advice or upgrades. This gives it an enormous audience in conventional media terms.
This gives Microsoft extraordinary opportunities, which could be used to extend the brand into many other areas of retailing online, including travel and books and CDs.
Anyone who has visited the Microsoft store at the Sony Centre in San Francisco will know what a wide variety of Microsoft merchandise already exists, including clothing, beachwear, luggage, tableware and even furniture. Microsoft's Expedia travel unit is already successful in its own right. But a Microsoft travel shop could be even more so.
NetValue's figures come from its link-up with Taylor Nelson Sofres to produce one of the largest internet panels in Europe. The figures show that although there are regional variants, such as the BBC in the UK, T-Online in Germany, and Wanadoo - the France Telecom-owned portal in France, the combination of first-mover advantage plus the superior content power of the big search engines and portals is enough to give them market dominance across the region.
The exception is AltaVista, which has maintained its profile in the UK, but hasn't hit the heights elsewhere.
Nick Rosen is a director of Online Research Agency, 10 Maltravers Street, London WC2R 3EX
Email: nick@online-agency.com or tel: 0797 1543703.
Vital statistics.
The Microsoft break-up seems like a good idea at the moment, but the US Justice Department and consumer advocates might come to regret the day they ever suggested it. In the first place, splitting Microsoft will be very difficult. Second, there is a strong possibility that doing so will create a global Hydra, a brand that succeeds in replicating itself hundreds of times in every conceivable internet product space. My suspicions have been aroused by new figures from NetValue which show Microsoft high on the list of leading web sites in a number of countries.
It appears that a global elite of web sites is emerging. These sites are market leaders in many countries, but do not appear dependent on local culture for success. On the whole, they are the usual suspects - AOL, MSN, Yahoo! and Microsoft all figure highly on most lists - yet Amazon does not make the top 10 in any country.
Microsoft is exceptional. It is not a portal or a search engine in its own right, like most of the other leading sites; it is in so many regional top 10 tables because the software company has such a large market share of desktops that customers visit the site looking to either buy software or get troubleshooting advice or upgrades. This gives it an enormous audience in conventional media terms.
This gives Microsoft extraordinary opportunities, which could be used to extend the brand into many other areas of retailing online, including travel and books and CDs.
Anyone who has visited the Microsoft store at the Sony Centre in San Francisco will know what a wide variety of Microsoft merchandise already exists, including clothing, beachwear, luggage, tableware and even furniture. Microsoft's Expedia travel unit is already successful in its own right. But a Microsoft travel shop could be even more so.
NetValue's figures come from its link-up with Taylor Nelson Sofres to produce one of the largest internet panels in Europe. The figures show that although there are regional variants, such as the BBC in the UK, T-Online in Germany, and Wanadoo - the France Telecom-owned portal in France, the combination of first-mover advantage plus the superior content power of the big search engines and portals is enough to give them market dominance across the region.
The exception is AltaVista, which has maintained its profile in the UK, but hasn't hit the heights elsewhere.
Nick Rosen is a director of Online Research Agency, 10 Maltravers Street, London WC2R 3EX
Email: nick@online-agency.com or tel: 0797 1543703.
_1.jpg)
.jpg)
