ballmer

Microsoft and EMC renew their vows

This following is a transcript of the full CNET interview with Tucci and Ballmer, which was conducted by Marguerite Reardon, reporting from New York, and Ina Fried, reporting from San Francisco.

NEW YORK--It was a lovefest Tuesday here at the Plaza Hotel where Microsoft and storage company EMC announced that they are extending their strategic partnership another three years.

The software giant and information management company have been working closely together for years, but they didn't formalize their relationship until 2006. Now things are going so well for the companies, they've decided to extend the formal relationship. As … Read more

Ballmer: Tech is economy's eventual savior

NEW YORK--The tech industry may not stop the economy from slowing, but it will be a big part of the eventual recovery, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said on Tuesday.

"Nothing is going to stop deleveraging; the economy has to reset," Ballmer said, as part of a joint interview with EMC CEO Joe Tucci. "At the same time you've got to say where do you get economic growth. The truth is, you only get economic growth from the following things. Population growth, inflation, productivity increases...and financial leverage."

There's no question, Ballmer said, that there … Read more

EMC, Microsoft team for share of IT budgets

NEW YORK--While tech spending has not evaporated, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said on Tuesday that most companies have mandated that their IT departments cut a significant percentage from their budgets.

"To save 5 (percent) to 10 percent, you have to save a little bit on a lot of things," Ballmer told CNET News on Tuesday, in a joint interview with EMC CEO Joe Tucci, "It's not like there's nothing new getting done. Some new projects are getting killed. There's pressure on vendors to reduce prices."

Tucci said he is seeing similar pressures due … Read more

Microhoo: What might have been

A year ago Sunday, on February 1, 2008, Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer told the world his company wanted to buy Yahoo.

Despite months of discussions, the deal never materialized, distressing many Yahoo shareholders and hastening Yahoo's replacement of CEO Jerry Yang with Carol Bartz. But what if Yang had gotten up on the other side of the bed one day a year ago and led his company to accept the offer?

It's impossible to know what would have happened, of course. But an exercise in speculation can be illuminating, as Philip K. Dick showed with The Man In The High Castle, … Read more

Microsoft job cuts evenly spread

Microsoft spread the 1,400 immediate layoffs broadly across the company's units, according to a source familiar with the cuts.

The software maker announced plans early Thursday to cut up to 5,000 jobs over the next 18 months, with the first round coming right away.

Hardest hit in those initial cuts, according to the source, were Microsoft's Entertainment and Devices unit, followed by the Server and Tools unit and the Microsoft Business Division, which houses Office and Microsoft's Dynamics products.

Microsoft declined to go into detail on its job cuts, though it said in its press … Read more

Microsoft cutting jobs, but not products

Although Microsoft is cutting jobs, the software maker apparently isn't axing any major products as part of its cost-cutting moves.

On a conference call with analysts Thursday, though, CEO Steve Ballmer defended the company's decision to stick by all of its businesses, even as it looks to cut up to 5,000 jobs.

"I like our portfolio," Ballmer said on the conference call. "The board likes our portfolio," he said, before moving on to the next question.

But should they be so pleased?

Microsoft itself acknowledged on the call that it does not have … Read more

PC sales slump to bite even Microsoft

With the PC market tanking along with the rest of the economy, Microsoft is seen as unlikely to be able to live up to the financial forecast it issued in October.

The company is set to release its quarterly earnings after the markets close on Thursday.

In a further sign of just how rough the economy is, Microsoft is also expected to announce shortly its plans for a significant, companywide layoffs. Although Microsoft has cut jobs in a particular unit or location in the past, it has managed to navigate through all past downturns without having to resort to such … Read more

Awaiting Microsoft's cuts

The uncertainty surrounding Microsoft's cost-cutting plan is likely to last only another day, until the software maker announces earnings Thursday.

That's when many people expect the company will detail its plans, which will likely include the company's first-ever companywide layoffs.

In the absence of hard facts, the guessing game goes on. I was fond of Todd Bishop's post at TechFlash on "Five things we really wouldn't miss" if Microsoft cut them.

Zune hardware tops the list, which also includes Microsoft's little-known YouTube rival Soapbox, and its search business. Although it seems very … Read more

Where will Microsoft cut?

It's not just Steve Ballmer who is searching Microsoft to look for potential areas to cut.

Now, reporters are getting in on the act.

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer has an interesting piece up adding up the cost of a number of employee perks. The paper reports that Microsoft isn't necessarily planning to cut the morale-boosters, but says it has seen a PowerPoint presentation that calculates their cost.

All those free sodas, juices, and cartons of milk, for example, cost Microsoft $20 million a year. The shuttle that takes Microsoft workers from building to building around its campus costs $14 … Read more