Microsoft does not own part of Dell as part of this transaction. However, the situation reminds me of another great Microsoft "investment". "Burning platform" The billions paid to Nokia almost exactly two years ago to help save a company teetering on the edge of a At the time of February 2011 Deal Nokia, Microsoft wanted and needed at least one of its partners to be "all in" with the Windows Phone platform, to the exclusion of competing operating systems such as Android. With the money that is lent Dell, Microsoft may be looking for a way to keep the PC manufacturer to third place to go astray in the camps Linux / ChromeOS / Android, as my colleague Larry Dignan ZDNet and Others have speculated.
There is another interesting parallel between Nokia and Dell situations. When Microsoft supported Nokia, there was a lot of chatter about this movement would result in an unfair advantage Nokia. There are similar concerns about what the Dell Microsoft investment could mean for other PC manufacturers and their customers.
Nokia "will bring its expertise in hardware design, language support, and help bring Windows Phone to a larger number of price points, market segments and geographies," trumpeted the original announcement. What he other partners Windows Phone - HTC, Samsung, Dell, even (who gave the Venue Pro Windows Phone and no follow)? Were they not now second-class citizens in the Windows ecosystem Phone?
Microsoft has come out of the gate really push Lumia as Nokia's flagship Windows phone by year-earlier. But since then, the Softies fell a little and share the love.
While Microsoft still gives Nokia account on Nokia and turn-by-turn navigation technology and maps for all Windows phones, Nokia is not the only game in town Windows Phone. I see more and more Microsoft executives sporting the HTC Windows Phone 8X 8s, rather than the latest Lumias. (Microsoft HTC identifies as a "signature" Windows Phone partner, but it really means, I heard HTC has decided to use "Windows Phone" in the official name of its phones, which is something Nokia did not.)
When Microsoft chose a partner for his phone just announced 4 Afrika African Development initiative, he went with Huawei, Nokia is not, despite the long history of Nokia and expertise in selling phones in the world development. Huawei and Microsoft unveiled a new variant of the Windows Phone Huawei Ascend W1 8 yesterday.So it could be that Microsoft has tie-up with Dell will not necessarily be to the detriment of other Microsoft OEM. Rather than becoming nothing more than a factory for new PCs and Microsoft Surface tablets - something that some observers believe Microsoft / feared to be the main reason for investing in Microsoft Dell - Dell may be supported by Microsoft stronger becomes just a Windows OEM.
It is a tumultuous time to be a Microsoft OEM, no doubt about it. The PC market is in decline, income-wise. Microsoft is competing with its own line of OEM product surface. And now, Microsoft is providing $ 2 billion loan to one of its largest manufacturers, Dell. I wonder how many OEM Windows will still be there in a year or two, and how will the Windows backup as one of several platforms to cover Paris.
