I don’t quite understand the point of Moorhead’s statement. It hasn’t been a secret that Microsoft has been short of apps, nor has the company pretended it was an area of strength. In fact, Microsoft has made it clear that its app store has been weak and it’s been an area the company wanted to build. So, it’s unfair to criticize the company for looking at creative ways to address a problem that it was being criticized for in the first place. We can’t have it both ways.
Give credit where credit is due
Granted,Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) can be aggravating. Its recent missteps, specifically its failure in the mobile, have caused this level of disdain. But now, the company is getting disrespected for doing things that other companies would be applauded for. Nevertheless, investors shouldn’t discount that there is still a lot of good in this company.
I won’t disagree that Microsoft’s mobile efforts are lagging. I won’t even contest that the company is still behind the likes of salesforce.com (NYSE:CRM) and Oracle Corporation (NASDAQ:ORCL) in the cloud. However, that 80% of Microsoft’s revenue still comes from businesses proves how strong its Windows and Office franchises still are. And there are no noticeable signs of weakness. Yet, this continues to be a popular bear argument that Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) is too reliant on Windows and Office, while no one complains that Oracle is too reliant on databases.
The concern is that Microsoft’s Office dominance will eventually get eaten up by increased cloud adoption. However, Microsoft hasn’t been asleep at the wheel in this area, either. With Azure, the company is taking the appropriate steps to shore up its cloud presence. Plus, with Office 365, I think (in time) Microsoft can become a true threat in the software-as-a-service, or SaaS, market, to rival Salesforce and Oracle Corporation (NASDAQ:ORCL).
Granted, Office 365 still has some room for improvement, but it shouldn’t be discounted. What’s more, just as with the “Keep the Cash” program for the app store, Microsoft has recently launched Azure community portal, which invites a wide range of developers to create. This is another way the company wants to increase broader adoption. In the process, Microsoft also refreshed Azure with a virtual-machine-centric platform similar to Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN)‘s Elastic Compute Cloud. And despite what bears may think, the platform is better than adequate.
Let’s have some perspective
Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) is never going to be Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) or Google. But the company is not a dog, either. While it’s true the company deserves criticism, we also have to be fair. The company is addressing its deficits as best as it can. But in the process, we can’t beat up Mr. Softy just because it seems easy.
The article Why Can’t Microsoft Catch a Break? originally appeared on Fool.com.
Fool contributor Richard Saintvilus owns shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL). The Motley Fool recommends Amazon.com, Apple, Google, Salesforce, and Visa. The Motley Fool owns shares of Amazon.com, Apple, Google, Microsoft, and Oracle Corporation (NASDAQ:ORCL).
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