Quote:
Originally Posted by frahse
The only thing I can remember that was a real failure was "Zune" and then close to that, their first tablet. They are bringing back the tablet again, and maybe later a new "Zune." They never give up.
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Microsoft BOB was a real (and embarrasing) failure. Big Time.
But TabletPC is *not* a failure.
It's a corporate niche product, not a consumer product, but they still sell by the millions and bring in profits for MS and their partners. Pretty much like WindowsCE devices; they're all over but hardly anybody notices them because they're mostly industrial products.
Even Zune made plenty of money for them.
It still does--through the subscription service which lives on via PCs, cellphones, and XBOX. What it did *not* do was grow to a significant PMP market share; at its peak it outsold established brands like Creative and iRiver (the sound quality was excellent and the players were extremely reliable and durable) but it never got beyond 10 percent. It was at best a distant second to Apple in the US.
Microsoft failure = didn't set the world on fire.
BOB, however, didn't set the *backyard* on fire.
It is right there with the Sony eVilla and Apple III for corporate embarrassment.