Microsoft

Read the special report in the Economist about Microsoft. (Subscription required.)

There is an interesting Special from November 24 in the Economist on Microsoft.

Microsoft continues to dominate the markets for office suites and operating systems for PCs with MS Office and Windows, and is making a lot of money and showing very high percentage of profits over sales in these lines. But, according to the article, it is striving to build market share in game machines. This effort seems especially important as the game machine is a strong candidate to be the living room master device, with the convergence of television, cable, Internet, digital music, etc.

Microsoft is also seeking market share in operating systems for mobile phones. And thirdly, it is seeking to take a major share of the Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) market.

These will, according to the Economist, represent a small portion of Microsoft's business, and a smaller portion of its profits for a few years.