Re: Microsoft makes a lot of money, Is Intel exceptionally unsuccessful as an architecture designer?

On Wed, 18 Sep 2024 20:37:01 -0000 (UTC), John Levine wrote:

It appears that Lawrence D'Oliveiro  <ldo@nz.invalid> said:
>

On Wed, 18 Sep 2024 02:41:50 -0000 (UTC), John Levine wrote:
>

According to Lawrence D'Oliveiro  <ldo@nz.invalid>:

>
It is true that Microsoft is not (yet) losing money, ...

 
Windows is shrinking but Azure and both commercial and personal Office
are hugely profitable.

>
That’s not disputing anything I said.

 
Microsoft is stupendously profitable.

Take a closer look at what they’re profitable *in*. Microsoft 365 (not
“Office” any more) is a rentware business. Azure is also a service
business. And look at Windows itself, with attempts to insert adware/
rentware mechanisms into the OS. So you see this move away from one-off
products sales towards ongoing payments.

Which is a classic sign of a company trying to squeeze more and more
revenue out of a stagnant or declining user base.