Is Microhoo silence a sign of progress?
When Microsoft and Yahoo were basically not speaking to one another, there was plenty of chatter and posturing from both sides.
Since that primping and posturing has largely died down (save Yahoo's recent road show with investors), does that mean the two companies are finally getting down to business?
Now it could be that the two companies have nothing to say because each is waiting for the other. But even that would be something to talk about. What makes companies really quiet is when there is something, but things are still fragile. I'm not claiming inside info on this, just saying that the silence has been eerie, particularly since the two sides had a preliminary meeting two weeks ago and then Yahoo went on its "Why we're worth more" road show.
There have been plenty of reporters and analysts arguing that Microsoft and Yahoo should just get on with it, the logic being that Yahoo doesn't really have any better offers and Microsoft can afford an extra billion or two, if necessary, to get a deal done.
At the same time, there are some factors that have set the stage for this slow-motion stage fight. One is that Microsoft, while definitely interested in Yahoo, does not appear interested in bidding against itself.
Kara Swisher notes that raising one's own bid may help win a charity auction, but it is not a very good strategy at a charity auction or when running a big business. And as those in the Microsoft camp point out, every dollar a share Microsoft were to add to its offer translates to well north of a billion dollars.
Yahoo, meanwhile, lifted the only pressing time limit when it delayed the deadline for nominating directors.
Here's the rub though: Microsoft says it's buying Yahoo to compete with Google. Every day that goes by is a day where Google is continuing to kick both company's online rears and the two companies are left to pursue their separate strategies. It's going to take time for a deal to get done even assuming they can come to terms, and then time once the deal gets done to get rid of all the overlap and get folks working on new projects.
The question is how much Microsoft values that time. The answer depends on just what kind of silence we are hearing.
During her years at CNET News, Ina Fried has changed beats several times, changed genders once, and covered both of the Pirates of Silicon Valley. These days, most of her attention is focused on Microsoft. E-mail Ina. 
Agree with most of what you say
but remember that the time it takes today is immaterial
Microsoft is looking at this as a lifelong investment and profit stream in the new web 2.0 world
so a month, two, four, ten - matters not
nor does the "delay" give Google any longterm advantage
anyhow that's my PoV
cheers
Miro
http://miroslodki.wordpress.com
up for sale, both Qwest and Verizon were bidding on it. Qwest made
offers for it that were bigger, but when the deal was looked at closely,
the merger with Qwest would have resulted in customers of UUNet
walking away because of the great disdain of Qwest as a carrier. This
merger attempt is the same. Microsoft would kill Yahoo, maybe not
directly, but indirectly, it would be a short amount of time before
Microsoft would decimate it and all it had grown up to be.
A Microsoft - Yahoo merger would not be good for anyone other than
Microsoft. Microsoft has every ability to bring themselves on par with
Yahoo, if they truly wanted to, but the fact is Microsoft does nothing for
itself - it only buys companies and tries to merge the new company with
its own ways, which ruins what made the original company successful.
Microsoft has never known how to truly innovate anything - they only
buy innovators and think by owning them they are as good as the original
company.
What makes more sense is Microsoft will preserve everything good about Yahoo, cut the rest, and integrate some of the better Microsoft properties.
Looks like they're trying to cleaning things up for MS. Next all the adult groups on Yahoo will be gone.
- Is this story a sign of a slow news day....
- by MMC Racing March 27, 2008 9:29 AM PDT
- I think so.. :)
- Like this Reply to this comment
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