Why Microsoft Is Doomed to Be an Also-Ran

Henry Blodget winds up big and delivers a broadside against Microsoft on Business Insider today. The fact that Apple's market value passed Microsoft's a couple weeks ago is only the beginning. Blodget points out that a huge majority of Microsoft's profits come from Windows and Office, and both are being rapidly undercut by the dwindling role of the desktop PC. Apple has unleashed the wave of new personal computing devices, which leave Windows stranded on the sidelines, while Google is in position to ride it with Chrome and Android. Even Dell and HP are sniffing around Chrome, he says, a pending disaster for Microsoft.

And Office, too, is on the ropes, threatened by Google's internet-centric Google Apps. It's inferior to Office for now, admits Blodget, but it has the look and feel of a disruptive technology: "cheaper, easier, and more convenient to use than Microsoft Office." Even big companies are giving it a look, he notes. "If this becomes a trend, Microsoft's second huge cash cow will be under immediate threat." Actually, Blodget doesn't see just boring also-ran, he sees collapse. (More Microsoft stories.)