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

On 19/09/2024 03:19, Lawrence D'Oliveiro wrote:

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

It appears that Lawrence D'Oliveiro  <ldo@nz.invalid> said:
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On Wed, 18 Sep 2024 02:41:50 -0000 (UTC), John Levine wrote:
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According to Lawrence D'Oliveiro  <ldo@nz.invalid>:

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

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

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That’s not disputing anything I said.

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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.

No, it is a classic sign of a company that has found a way to get a fairly stable revenue stream with a predictable path for the future.
When their main income was selling Windows and Office licenses, they were dependent on a continuously increasing market - that model was doomed as they approached saturation.  A subscription model does not have such limitations, even if the user base is not growing significantly.