Microsoft has treated Windows and Office as stars instead of cash cows, failing to develop true stars to stimulate or at least harness changes in consumer trends. They consume cash while the company determines if they are turning into stars.
Question Marks: High growth rate but low market share.They generate the money required to finance the company’s other endeavors. Cash Cows: Market leaders with low growth rates that produce consistent income without heavy investment.
They typically require heavy investment (e.g., extensive marketing campaigns) as they increase share and solidify their success.
The Microsoft divisions responsible for Windows and its productivity software have historically earned the bulk of the company’s profit, “cash cows” per the BCG Matrix. MS Office featuring Word, Excel and PowerPoint has been the leading productivity suite for years as Microsoft overwhelmed early leaders such as WordPerfect and Lotus 1-2-3. Windows is Microsoft’s signature product, the operating system that at one time ran the vast majority of personal computing devices, propelling Microsoft to a market dominance that the federal government sought to curtail with an antitrust action in the 1990s. This accompanies the company’s similar offers of free Microsoft Office apps for users of iOS and Android systems. Microsoft has announced that its new Windows 10 will be a free upgrade for a wide range of current Windows users. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella introduces the new version of the company’s signature product, Windows 10.
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