Microsoft Announces Layoffs, Vista Blamed

This morning, Microsoft announced that possibly 5000 jobs will be cut in the next year and a half. This is approximately the time frame that the economic Nostradami believe it will take for an uptake in the economy to take place.

The really bad news is that 1400 of the jobs will be cut almost immediately.

The quarterly revenues are down, and so it looks as though Microsoft will not be immune to the problems, now spread worldwide.

from Betanews

Windows Vista may be the only reason, as revenue from other company divisions actually fared very well, especially the Server and Tools division (15% annual gain) and the Entertainment and Devices division (3% annual gain, with strong Xbox 360 sales over the holidays). An 8% annual decline in the company’s biggest and most important revenue earner, follows news from PC makers everywhere of as much as double-digit unit sales declines in the holiday quarter. If PCs aren’t selling, Windows isn’t selling.

Yes, if Microsoft can’t force Vista down the throats of customers, due to lowered sales, it will cause a downturn. No doubt, the continued sales of XP, pitted against the more expensive Vista, is a part of this problem.

Microsoft isn’t going anywhere anytime soon, but it isn’t going to be the ever-expanding juggernaut it once was, for the foreseeable future.

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