winesong
Bend, OR
age: 60
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they say they did not make a mistake..wow!!! lots of $$$.
Karen
Microsoft Corp Chief Executive Steve Ballmer said on Monday his firm's acquisition of a 1.6 percent stake in socializing Web site Facebook for $240 million was an important investment, not a mistake.
"We didn't make a mistake," Ballmer told reporters on the sidelines of a business conference in Mumbai. Analysts have said Microsoft paid a steep price on a bet that the three-year-old firm would be able to transform itself into a hub for all sorts of Web activity. "The valuation of Facebook is still to be determined. Certainly today, it's very, very popular. So for a company like ours that wants to be a pre-eminent presence in this space, it's very important for us," Ballmer said. "Will Facebook be worth $5 billion, $15 billion or $50 billion some years down the line is really up to their team and how they take it forward."
Ballmer, who joined Microsoft in 1980 at the request of his Harvard classmate Bill Gates, said last month that the company was focusing on up to 20 smaller acquisitions of $50 million to $1 billion each annually rather than mega-deals.
Asked if Microsoft was interested in buying Yahoo Inc, Ballmer said: "My answer is a considered 'no comment'." "We want to succeed in the online advertising space. What happens with Yahoo, we'll all have to wait and see."
Ballmer, who is going to China on Monday night, said the Chinese market was important to Microsoft and that they were making some progress on the issue of intellectual property rights.
"We've made some progress, and there's better respect for software intellectual property there than there was three years ago," he said. "That said, it's still lower than in a lot of other countries. So depending on how you look at it, life's getting better, or life's bleak," he said.
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dustin
Roseville, CA
age: 27
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They should buy Yahoo! next and get it over with already. Then and only then will there be a company that MIGHT be able to compete with Google. But probably not.
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copterdriver
Saint Matthews, SC
age: 55
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When is the governement going to tell Microsoft enough already?
It's pretty disgusting to see how much money they have in profits but keep gobbling up huge businesses at will. The acquisition will be an expense that they can deduct from liability of taxes and we keep paying more and more for taxes and their products...
makes no sense...
unless yer Microshaft...
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gturnerws
Bend, OR
age: 19
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Yahoo wont compete with google, totaly different cliet base as one and two googles technology VS yahoo.. Google is a "RESEARCH" company and "BREAKING EDGE TECHNOLOGY" yahoo is a "MAKE IT WORK LIKE A MAC DOES, EASY AND SIMPLE FOR THE HOME USER"
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qazyguy
Rockville, MD
age: 50
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Only 1.6% for a quarter billion? Do they really think Facebook is worth $15 billion?!?
No Way! Dustin, Yahoo doesn't really compete with Yahoo. AFAIK, no one really takes them (or Microsoft) seriously as a Search Engine. Yahoo is a Social site, with Chat, Groups and Yahoo Messenger.
JIM
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