As Microsoft cedes market share in various sectors to rivals, the financial world is looking at the leadership of Chief Executive Officer Steve Ballmer and wondering if a change is needed. Apple continues to gain on Microsoft in the OS market; Apple’s iPod wasn’t even threatened by Microsoft’s Zune; Windows Phone 7 lags behind iOS and Android; and Microsoft ceded the tablet PC market to Apple despite having tablet PCs since 2001. A hedge fund manager, Greenlight Capital President David Einhorn, has called publicly for Ballmer’s head in light of recent losses in the tech world.
“It’s time for Microsoft’s board to tell Steve Ballmer, ‘All right, we see what you can do, let’s give so-and-so a chance,’” Einhorn said according to Bloomberg. “His continued presence is the biggest overhang on Microsoft’s stock.”
Under Ballmer’s watch, some of Xbox division’s best and brightest have left the company. Peter Moore, J. Allard, and the entire development team for the original Xbox. Despite the success of recent projects like Kinect and Windows 7, the company is known for launching products that have failed to capture consumers. Einhorn believes Ballmer suffers from “Charlie Brown management”, likening the CEO’s moves to the comic character’s continuous failures in multiple pursuits.
“Ballmer’s problem is that he’s stuck in the past,” Einhorn emphasized. “He’s allowed competitors to beat Microsoft in huge areas, including search, mobile-communications software, tablet computing and social networking. Even worse, his response to these failures has been to pour tremendous resources into efforts to develop his way out of these holes.”
Is Ballmer the man responsible for the decline of the mighty Redmond giant? Can Microsoft be fixed?
