I'm not quite so sure share price would rise if they bought FB. Why? FB is in no way related to any of Microsoft's core competencies. They would be much better off buying companies that make online collaboration tools in order to capture lost revenue from lost Office sales. How would FB help their bottom line? Ad sales are nice, but at the end of the day MS is a company that makes software - specifically Windows and Office. They should be focused on buying companies that complement/replace that revenue stream.
The problem is that Windows and Office have little long-term potential as profitable products. So what do you do when your core competencies become obsolete? You have to get new ones. You could try really hard to learn new ones, but when you have the money you can also just buy them...
People have been saying that for over a decade about Windows and Office, and they've kept chugging along. I have a strong feeling the same will be true of the next decade.
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I'm not quite so sure share price would rise if they bought FB. Why? FB is in no way related to any of Microsoft's core competencies. They would be much better off buying companies that make online collaboration tools in order to capture lost revenue from lost Office sales. How would FB help their bottom line? Ad sales are nice, but at the end of the day MS is a company that makes software - specifically Windows and Office. They should be focused on buying companies that complement/replace that revenue stream.
The problem is that Windows and Office have little long-term potential as profitable products. So what do you do when your core competencies become obsolete? You have to get new ones. You could try really hard to learn new ones, but when you have the money you can also just buy them...
People have been saying that for over a decade about Windows and Office, and they've kept chugging along. I have a strong feeling the same will be true of the next decade.
Facebook is a company that makes software. It's also a platform on which much software is developed. Seems quite fitting to me.