Microsoft Market Strategy

ABSTRACT

Since its inception in 1975 by co founders Bill Gates and Paul Allen, Microsoft Corporation have steadily and rapidly become one of the world’s most successful companies, with brands amongst the most global. It now commands a position among the top worldwide corporations, ranking number three in the FT Global 500while enjoying revenues in excess of $36bn.
This essay seeks to provide an overview and history of the company, while undertaking a succinct analysis of its business successes. The reasons for this success of the company shall be explored, and the prospects for continued future prosperity will also be assessed

 
INTRODUCTION AND HISTORY
Microsoft, a public US company trading shares on the NASDAQ stock exchange in New York, is active globally, with offices in over seventy countries. For an overview on Microsoft figures, see Appendix A. Originally set up to make operating systems for the Altair 8800 system, the company has since produced industry benchmarks in the market, first with MS-DOS in the 1980s, and with Windows in the 1990s.
By dominating this market with a near total monopoly on the world’s home and business PCs, it was in a position to develop software applications to complement and support its product range. The most successful examples of these include Microsoft Office, a clutch of desktop publishing applications, and more recently the online integrated programmes and services of MSN.