News
Apple, Consumer Electronics May Gain from Vista Delay
>Microsoft Corp.'s delay in releasing the consumer version of its new Windows
operating system is a blow to companies that make and sell computers, but perhaps good news for others in the electronics industry.
Analysts say consumers who were considering buying a new PC this holiday season may now opt for a fancy new television, a rival Apple computer or even Microsoft's
own Xbox 360 videogame console, giving an unexpected boost to companies that
make those products.
"Every holiday season there are the top five hot items, and one of those
items this year would've been a Windows Vista PC," said Samir Bhavnani,
a principal analyst with Current Analysis. "Now that's off the list and
it leaves room for, maybe, a widescreen television."
Redmond-based Microsoft said late Tuesday that it had decided to withhold the
release of the consumer version of Windows Vista until January, after computer
makers and others complained that Microsoft setbacks were making it tough for
them to adequately prepare for a holiday sales push.
Microsoft still plans to release Vista in November to large, business customers
that buy Windows licenses in bulk, but the product won't be on store shelves
-- and inside consumers' computers -- until the new year.
Vista is the first new version of Microsoft's flagship operating system since
Windows XP was released in 2001.
Companies that make computers and their components were counting on it to breathe
excitement into PC sales efforts this holiday season. The loss is expected to
extend across the supply chain, from the companies that make computer chips
to those responsible for shipping the computers.
"The entire stack gets hurt," said Roger Kay of Endpoint Technologies
Associates.
Some of the lost holiday sales may be pushed into 2007, but others will disappear
completely, Kay said, as some consumers splurge instead on a fancy cell phone,
a music player or a videogame console.
Sony Corp., which recently delayed the release of its new PlayStation 3, still
expects to have units available by the holidays and could find sales boosted.
Microsoft's own Xbox 360 also could benefit, as could companies that make other
big-ticket items, such as flat-screen televisions or the next generation of
DVD players.
Apple Computer Inc., which is expected to offer new computers carrying its
updated operating system in time for the holidays, has the potential to be one
of the biggest winners if it can use the opportunity to persuade Windows users
to switch allegiances, analysts say. But Apple currently has just a tiny percentage
of the market, and it's not clear how many people will decide to jump.
"Apple definitely stands to gain," Bhavnani said. "The question
is, to what degree."
Analyst Rob Enderle said Apple may have an unprecedented opportunity if, as
some suspect, it introduces in time an entertainment-centric Mac that can do
such tasks as recording live television.
Microsoft has been making inroads into the living room with its Windows XP
Media Center Edition, and such entertainment functions are expected to be baked
into one of the company's consumer versions of Vista.
Still, Microsoft faces competition from companies that make stand-alone digital
television recorders, including TiVo Inc., Motorola Inc. and Scientific Atlanta
Inc.
And if Apple can push that functionality into people's living rooms before
Microsoft's Vista comes to market, Enderle said, it might score the kind of
coup it did with the industry-leading iPod music player.
"They can come in and steal that segment," he said.
An Apple spokesman declined to comment.
For Microsoft itself, the delay is an embarrassment, but analysts still credit
the company with making the announcement early in the year and avoiding a nasty
surprise right before the holiday season begins.
Nevertheless, The Wall Street Journal reported in Wednesday editions that the
company was considering a management shake-up in its Windows unit. A Microsoft
spokesman declined to comment.