Give Microsoft some credit - they're the second largest company in the world with over $2 trillion market cap. Sure we're not in the 90s anymore and their image, position in the markets and in the zeitgest is a bit different but "not at its peak" is a bit harsh.
As far as acronyms, I like FAAAM (replace Google with Alphabet).
But their #1 stranglehold position in tech went bye bye when they dropped the ball in the OS area by whiffing fantastically several times as mobile rose to dominance.
In cloud they are significant, just not dominant either.
You assume that their current market position is because they dropped the ball rather than a deliberate choice to step back from being the prominent leader. They're making more money than ever, they've essentially fixed their reputation from the Ballmer years, they can attract top talent, and they can work on projects without massive public strutiny and commentary now. I think it was Microsoft are exactly where they want to be.
> You assume that their current market position is because they dropped the ball rather than a deliberate choice to step back from being the prominent leader.
A business willingly choosing to make less money and get out competed by competitors? Why did they then attempt to create a windows phone then pull it after failure?
Microsoft wrote down billions of dollars on many attempts at being king of mobile.
These were colossal failures. The fact that they were such a cash generating machine doesn’t imply that they didn’t lose out on being a much bigger business.
They didn’t step back from mobile prominence, they stepped back from repeated mobile failures, licked their wounds, and refocused on other areas because they had lost their chance.
And they knew it.
Of course, every day is a new opportunity. Microsoft seems to be far better managed now.
What does them having “more money than ever” have to do with it? Your claim was that the step back from mobile was planned and purposeful no? Why would any company choose to step back from anything?
As far as acronyms, I like FAAAM (replace Google with Alphabet).