Global Monopoly Power - Microsoft

A GLOBAL MONOPOLY POWER : MICROSOFT

A global monopoly power is a company or a firm which successfully operates on an international scale with no established competitor in its industry.
Microsoft would definitely be considered a global monopoly, Microsoft claims they don’t have monopoly power on an international level however evidence suggests otherwise. It controls the operating system of 94.1% of the personal computers sold on the market today and just finished of a $150 million investment in apple computer to tie the other 5.9% of new desktop sales into an alliance. In major software application Microsoft has steadily expanded its market share in the case of word processors from barely a third of the market in 1995 to over 80% in 1997.

Microsoft is using both its control off the desktop and its inroads into the survey market to enable control off emerging internet standards and commerce. It’s internet explorer desktop browser is rapidly overtaking Netscape’s software for navigating the internet, while its combination of internets servers, web editors, internet development, and network based applications are establishing dominance in control of the evolution of the internet.

Microsoft has established its dominance through using the financial clout consistently over the last few years to acquire companies and their software and human assets, while sealing financial alliances with a range of partners. While many of the financial details have not been made puplic, Microsoft spent an estimated $1.5 billion between 1994 and 1996 on acquisitions. Through these investments, Microsoft has bought out dozens of companies, buying or investing in over twenty companies in 1996 alone. Its investments have only accelerated in 1997 with the $1.5 billion invested in Apple, and the hundreds of millions invested in additional internet-related companies, including its key investments in audio and video steaming.

Microsoft’s Criticism
A criticism of Microsoft is that it is anti competitive. The majority of criticism has been for its business tactics, often described with the motto “embrace, extend and extinguish.” Microsoft initially advertises a competing standard or product then extends it to produce their own version which is then above the standards, which in time gets rid of any competition that does no or cannot use Microsoft’s new version. This is how they become a monopoly power.