yournovel Chapter 483 Microsoft's Counterattack and Defeated
Chapter 483 Microsoft's Counterattack and Defeated
On the day Microsoft released Windows Mobile 2005, Ballmer rented an entire electronic screen in Times Square, New York. The blue background and white lettering read three lines: First: The true smartphone operating system. Second: From Microsoft. Third: No explanation needed.
The press conference was simultaneously broadcast live to more than a dozen cities around the world. Ballmer, wearing his signature white shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, paced back and forth on stage, speaking rapidly. He suddenly stopped mid-sentence, stared at the camera, and said in a deliberately lowered but clearly audible voice, "Some companies try to please users with free and open-source products. But we at Microsoft let our technology speak for itself."
Wang Jianguo watched the live stream at the Jinan Spark Laboratory. He recorded it and played it again on the screen during the internal meeting that afternoon. The dozen or so people in the meeting room reacted differently after watching it—some shook their heads, some scoffed, and Li Mo threw the pen he was twirling on the table; it rolled twice and fell to the ground.
"Don't laugh," Ling Yun said. The conference room fell silent. "That's what they said about Netscape back then. Microsoft never admits defeat verbally; their method is—to throw money at the competition until it collapses."
Zhao Weiguo called via video from Guangzhou. The video froze for a moment, but his voice was still clear: "So what do we do?"
"Let them make the first move." Ling Yun leaned back in his chair. "Microsoft's strategy hasn't changed since the 1990s. First they make a statement, then they throw money at it, and finally they push it by leveraging Windows' installation base. But they forgot one thing—a mobile phone isn't a PC. Users won't buy a mobile phone just for office software."
Two weeks later, Microsoft revealed its hand.
Wang Jianguo received the email at 3 a.m. After reading it, he immediately called Ling Yun's internal line, finally getting through after three attempts. When Ling Yun answered, his voice was still hoarse from not having woken up properly.
"Mr. Ling, Microsoft has launched a 'Windows Mobile Developer Incentive Program.' For each native Windows Mobile app developed, there's a direct subsidy of $5,000 to $50,000, plus additional traffic support after it's listed in the app store. They've also set up a migration bonus—any app ported from the Spark OS platform to Windows Mobile will receive an extra $20,000 reward."
Ling Yun was silent for a few seconds. The sound of Wang Jianguo clicking the mouse could be heard on the other end of the phone.
"We already had more than 30 apps that were originally planned to debut on Spark App Store, but they snatched them away. One of them is an accounting software that was previously ranked number one in the finance category on Spark App Store. They called me yesterday, said a lot of polite things, but the gist was the same - Microsoft offered too much, and they couldn't refuse."
"Understood," Ling Yun said. "The meeting is tomorrow morning."
The meeting the following morning was brief. Chen Zhongming spoke first, stating that Microsoft's subsidy budget was $400 million, specifically targeting small and medium-sized developers in Asia and Europe. Zhao Weiguo swore in the video. Ma Baoguo suggested, "How about we also provide subsidies?" Ling Yun shook his head.
"They're throwing money at people, so we'll retain them in a different way." Ling Yun stood up, walked to the whiteboard, picked up a marker, and wrote four words: Help developers make money. "Have Chen Zhongming coordinate the establishment of a special fund for app promotion. Instead of direct subsidies, we'll provide traffic support, featured placements, and channels for acquiring new users. Newly launched high-quality apps will get free featured placements for the first month, and those with rapid user growth will receive additional exposure. We want developers to earn more money in the Spark ecosystem than Microsoft subsidizes. Subsidies are a one-off deal; they'll do the math."
Chen Zhongming jotted down two lines and asked, "How large is the fund?"
"We'll allocate 200 million initially. If that's not enough, we'll add more."
However, Windows Mobile's market performance didn't bring Microsoft much joy for long. The first batch of devices were manufactured by HTC, featuring a boxy design and a slide-out full keyboard. The screen was resistive, requiring a bit of pressure to press, leaving a faint dent.
Tech media headlines were increasingly scathing. Engadget wrote, "Microsoft's mobile operating system is like cramming the Windows desktop into a phone." TechCrunch's review was even shorter, simply stating, "Neither elegant nor user-friendly."
The system lag issue is particularly severe. Booting up takes over forty seconds, and opening an application sometimes takes three or four seconds. The touch experience is a generation behind StarPhone—there's no multi-touch, and accidental touches are frequent when swiping pages. The app store has fewer than two hundred apps, most of which are Microsoft's own office software.
Three months later, Microsoft quietly reduced the budget for its developer incentive program. Several developers who had previously been sidelined returned to Spark, asking if they could relist their projects. Wang Jianguo politely welcomed them back, adding that the revenue sharing ratio had been adjusted back to 80/20.
Ling Yun later mentioned in an internal meeting: "If a product is not user-friendly, no matter how much money you spend, you won't be able to retain users. This is a lesson that Microsoft will never learn." He said this in a very calm tone, not as if he were mocking someone, but as if he were stating a proven fact.
That evening, Ling Yun was in his office reviewing Microsoft's antitrust case files from previous years, a well-worn copy of "The Innovator's Dilemma" lying beside him. The tower cranes outside had stopped, the streetlights were on in the park, and the sound of the wind rustling through the treetops drifted in through the half-open window. He wrote a line in his notebook: Microsoft is replicating the Netscape war strategy, but they've forgotten—the battlefield is no longer on PCs. He closed his notebook and leaned back in his chair. In 1997, Netscape was defeated by Microsoft's bundling strategy. Back then, he sat in his 300-square-meter office in Silicon Valley, watching helplessly as his partner was strangled step by step by Microsoft. Now the roles were reversed.
My phone vibrated. It was an email from Steve Jobs, with only one sentence in the body: "I've tried Microsoft Mobile. Don't worry. —Steve"
Ling Yun smiled and replied with a single word, "Mm." Then he picked up his coat, pushed open the door, and went out. Zhao Hu was waiting in the hallway, holding his car keys.
Lingyun turned up his coat collar. "Tomorrow morning, have Jianguo compile the revenue sharing data for the new batch of developers—we need to show those developers who are still observing that some people are actually making money in the Spark ecosystem."