Amit Chokshi_

Microsoft's iPod Killer Emerges -- Should Apple be Scared? You Bet! (AAPL, MSFT)

The negativity is more of a result of the quality of your article. If you're looking for bashing and pumping based on how much people "like" a stock, company, or its products go to Yahoo's boards but there's generally less blind loyalty to companies mentioned in this site.

MSFT's been in talks to develop an iPod "killers" for years, now they finally got around to where they might release one, big deal. AAPL owns the space as it is, unit sales have generally moderated at this point. MSFT is going to be competing for the same shelf space that Rio and SDSK and CREAF all do.

And I think many people have all heard about the "threats" the various internet music stores from YHOO, AMZN, and even WMT were going to pose to AAPL. WMT was going to undercut AAPL and it was going to be over for them. MSFT is going to bumble into the MP3 market the same way they've done the console market, spend a lot of shareholder money and become an unprofitable second place market leader. The PS franchise counts for close to what, 40%, of SNE's operating profits, MSFT can't turn a profit on the 360. So some of the statements you make, about MSFT like "Microsoft has a pattern of entering a business and sucking the profit opportunity out of it by incorporating it as part of its platform. Why should entertainment infrastructure be any different?" is based on one example which is Internet Explorer. MSFT hasn't displaced Adobe or Intuit or other software vendors that MSFT would love to get its hands around. And have they done anything with the gaming console area? 17% of the market isn't bad but Nintendo actually makes money off their systems and the Wii reviews suggest the 360 could face competition from Nintendo (which doesn't do so bad at about 14% market share).