The Bully in the Sandbox

Can competitive behavior be too effective?

Microsoft, over the years, competed aggressively in the Windows market. Microsoft products became dominant in Windows: Word, Excel, Access, PowerPoint, Project, Visual Studio, Internet Explorer...

Microsoft built a reputation as the bully of the Windows sandbox. They made it clear that competitors could exist in the Windows market only at Microsoft's sufferance. When a competitor built a product that made too much profit, or introduced a technology that threatened Microsoft's dominance, Microsoft built its own version of the product (or technology) and out-competed the challenger.

In the short term, this strategy gave Microsoft dominance (and profits) in the Windows market. In the long term, I suspect that the unfriendly Windows market spurred the development of other technologies and spaces. I imagine that some people created products for Apple computers, to avoid the Windows market. Others built web applications. These platforms were less risky than competing in the Windows space.

Microsoft has had little success with its phones and tablets. Oh, the Surface Pro tablets sell well enough, but mostly because they are small, portable Windows PCs running full desktop applications. Windows-based phones have not sold well. The market for Windows mobile apps (especially when compared to Apple's and Google's) is anemic.

I cannot help but think that Microsoft's previous behavior with Windows has made people reluctant to enter the Windows mobile market. Analysts claim that Microsoft was "too late" to enter the mobile market, and they may be right. Yet some part of the failure, I believe, is due to the threat of Microsoft resuming its former practices.

Which leaves Microsoft in a difficult position. It wants people to accept its mobile devices. For that, it needs apps, and it needs apps from other people and companies. Microsoft needs a thriving market to compete with Apple and Google. How to build interest in the market for Windows mobile?

The one strategy that Microsoft should avoid is filling their app store with Microsoft-built apps. A Microsoft-run store with only (or mostly) Microsoft-built apps will reinforce the notion that Microsoft is still a bully. People will avoid the Windows platform, thinking that they have no chance to exist for any length of time.

So perhaps there can be such a thing as "too competitive".