Vaporware-Case Study

Given Microsoft’s track record, it certainly appears that pre-announcement of Chicago were an attempt to thwart competition from rival products. Microsoft knows that information technology is one industry that is extremely volatile and highly unpredictable. Here market share increases and decreases with the entry or just an announcement of a new product. For this reason, it was important for the firm to preserve its market share while Chicago was not ready for release. With competitors like IBM keenly observing every move of Microsoft to detect any loopholes in its strategy or product, it was important for Microsoft to make some concrete measures to keep customers interested in forthcoming products of MS because interest in new product was one thing that could stop them from switching loyalties and trying out rival products.

When competition is stiff as we noticed in the case of Microsoft, customers are usually as good to the firm as the product it offers. While they may all love MS products, they cannot be effectively stopped from testing new rival products and once they do so, they may even get hooked to the new product. Microsoft understood this problem and while it enjoys a new loyal and large customer base, it is also aware of the characteristics of its average target consumer. An average MS consumer is a person who is well aware of the pros and cons of using certain software and which companies offer better profits than the other. This average person has money concerns too and for this reason, a good rival product offered at lower price would always be more tempting than am equally good product offered by his favorite firm at very high rates.

Microsoft however did not want to lose his market share to IBM’s new operating system and for this reason; it announced the release of the product much before it was ready to appear on market shelves. “Ian Fraser, vice-president marketing for Concord, Ont.-based Merisel Canada explains the impact of pre-announcing on competing products. He says that if a “significant product is pre-announced, it can slow down on the buying of competing products, which is usually the objectives of the game.” (Casselman, 1991)

In other words, when customers know that their favorite firm is about to launch a new important product, they are willing to wait a little longer before opting for the rival product. Delays in the release of Windows 95 might not have been a planned strategy but making announcements of product release two years before it actually materialized was certainly a calculated move. Microsoft was aware of the fact that IBM was in the processing of releasing its new operating system OS/2.2 and in order to retain customers, Microsoft decided to pre-announce the product. This was done to retain market share and to weaken the sales of rival products.

Question 2- VAPORWARE and ETHICS

Many people believe that pre-announcing a product is ethically wrong because vaporware gives rise to serious ethical questions. However if we delve deeper into the issue, we might notice that while vaporware does hurt competition and is an unethical move, it can be justified on the basis of stiff competition that prevails in American corporate world today.

First let us see how vaporware gives birth to ethical issues. For one, when a company pre-announces its product, it puts its customers in an uncomfortable and rather odd position. They need a new tool and some rival products are available in the market, but they are not trying them out simply because they were keenly awaiting that ‘major’ product by the firm they trust. This certainly hurts customers’ work and may even stall the progress of their projects. Secondly, by pre-announcing vendors deliberately thwart competition and slow down expected sales of new rival products. This is unethical because stifling competition is directly connected with abuse of power and position.

In the corporate world, you are required to meet competition but stifle it by unethical moves. Therefore it is one thing to crush competition with the help of effective marketing strategies and completely another to suffocate competitors through misinformation and lies.

Dyson (1989) writes: “Perhaps they can rationalize it by frankly saying their tool won’t be out for two years. But in that time, key executives can leave, financing can dwindle, parts can become scarce or testing and flaw fixing can take way longer than expected. So companies deserve no sympathy. Leaving customers in the lurch when promised goods don’t arrive (or arrive late or half-baked) is hardly an honorable practice, particularly when it seems to become part of the business plan.”

For this reason vaporware creates serious ethical problems as it gives one vendor an edge over his competition not because of product quality but misinformation. Vendors simply fail to take into account the impact of delays on customers, rivals, and stakeholders.

However if we study the problem from the viewpoint of profits and competition, we might be able to justify pre-announcements. Vendors are in the business to make money. Profit is therefore the key consideration. However to increase profits, vendors need a large and loyal customer base and good standing at Wall Street. Losing customers is a constant threat, which needs to be addressed with the means of effective strategies, and pre-announcing is one such strategy. Vendors see it as only a way of retaining customers and this is indeed not something unethical. Apart from retaining customers, vendors also need to have a good ranking at Wall Street in order to keep their stock prices high. However with no news of a new product in the offing, vendors can lose their edge and stock prices may tumble. For this reason IT firms argue that, “it’s the Wall Street engine that forces them to remain ever-visible (to keep their market cap ever-high) by plying us with “news” of one far-off product after another.” (McCrory, 1999)

DID MICROSOFT DO SOMETHING WRONG?

And were pre-announcements required to remain competitive in the software industry. (Questions 3 & 4 answered together)

Yes it did. This is the clearest possible answer to this question. Ideally, Microsoft should have refrained from pre-announcing its product when it had not even reached anywhere near the testing stage. The company should have announced the product when it was in its final completion stage because even after that software firms take six to eight months to actually release the product. For this reason, pre-announcing the product two years before its release and giving one false release date after another were totally uncalled for.

Gary Reback of Wilson, Sonsini, Goodrich & Rosati, Silicon Valley’s leading intellectual property law firm, charged Microsoft for using unethical tactics to stifle competition and one of those tactics included “Announcing the pending introduction of fictitious or premature products, so-called “vaporware,” to discourage consumers from buying competing products by suggesting that a competitor’s product will soon be obsolete.” He supported this charge with “smoking-gun evidence of Microsoft’s vaporware tactics against competitor Borland International. One Microsoft marketing employee wrote, “I developed a rollout plan for QuickC and CS that focused on minimizing Borland’s first mover advantage by pre-announcing with an aggressive communications campaign.”(Wheat, 1995) However if we do not think about how customers and competitors suffered and simply concentrate on the industry and how it works, it might be able to justify Microsoft’s actions. We have already discussed the importance of staying one step ahead of your rivals in IT world and Microsoft had to prove it was working on something ‘big’ to retain its customers and its market share. Secondly Microsoft may not have delayed the product deliberately. Software even after completing requires intense testing and one reason for persistent delay in release was this testing process. Microsoft must have thought its product was ready for release and excitedly announced a release date, but upon testing it discovered some serious flaws in the operating system and thus stalled the release even further. Bringing a half-basked product to the market can seriously damage any company’s reputation. And therefore thorough testing is extremely important and this may take a long time. Dyson (1989) explains, “…most of the software needed today doesn’t require creativity and daring as much as craftsmanship, attention to detail and integration with existing systems. The real challenge with the new [software] is getting it to fit the rest of what’s out there. It has to look and feel familiar to the millions of people who have used earlier versions, and it has to run the models and custom applications built around the old product…Solving this kind of problem isn’t a matter of some character shouting Eureka! It involves lots of detailed input by lots of people.” This testing process must have taken a lot longer than Microsoft had initially anticipated. However to stay competitive in the industry, Microsoft had to pre-announce the product and thus we should excuse the firm for this mistake because we all know Microsoft is really good at what it does.

References

Anne McCrory Vaporware: It’s OK… In Name Only Publication: Computerworld; Date: 01/25/1999;

Dyson, Esther A surfeit of vaporware. (Random Access) (Column) Publication: Forbes; Date: 05/01/1989;

Casselman, Grace Vaporware: vile or valid? (The downside of product pre-announcements) (Special Report) Publication: Computing Canada; Date: 12/19/1991;

Wheat, Andrew The info-baron: Bill Gates and Microsoft. Publication: Multinational Monitor; Date: 05/01/1995

Get Professional Assignment Help Cheaply

Are you busy and do not have time to handle your assignment? Are you scared that your paper will not make the grade? Do you have responsibilities that may hinder you from turning in your assignment on time? Are you tired and can barely handle your assignment? Are your grades inconsistent?

Whichever your reason is, it is valid! You can get professional academic help from our service at affordable rates. We have a team of professional academic writers who can handle all your assignments.

Why Choose Our Academic Writing Service?

• Plagiarism free papers
• Timely delivery
• Any deadline
• Skilled, Experienced Native English Writers
• Subject-relevant academic writer
• Adherence to paper instructions
• Ability to tackle bulk assignments
• Reasonable prices
• 24/7 Customer Support
• Get superb grades consistently

Online Academic Help With Different Subjects

Literature

Students barely have time to read. We got you! Have your literature essay or book review written without having the hassle of reading the book. You can get your literature paper custom-written for you by our literature specialists.

Finance

Do you struggle with finance? No need to torture yourself if finance is not your cup of tea. You can order your finance paper from our academic writing service and get 100% original work from competent finance experts.

Computer science

Computer science is a tough subject. Fortunately, our computer science experts are up to the match. No need to stress and have sleepless nights. Our academic writers will tackle all your computer science assignments and deliver them on time. Let us handle all your python, java, ruby, JavaScript, php , C+ assignments!

Psychology

While psychology may be an interesting subject, you may lack sufficient time to handle your assignments. Don’t despair; by using our academic writing service, you can be assured of perfect grades. Moreover, your grades will be consistent.

Engineering

Engineering is quite a demanding subject. Students face a lot of pressure and barely have enough time to do what they love to do. Our academic writing service got you covered! Our engineering specialists follow the paper instructions and ensure timely delivery of the paper.

Nursing

In the nursing course, you may have difficulties with literature reviews, annotated bibliographies, critical essays, and other assignments. Our nursing assignment writers will offer you professional nursing paper help at low prices.

Sociology

Truth be told, sociology papers can be quite exhausting. Our academic writing service relieves you of fatigue, pressure, and stress. You can relax and have peace of mind as our academic writers handle your sociology assignment.

Business

We take pride in having some of the best business writers in the industry. Our business writers have a lot of experience in the field. They are reliable, and you can be assured of a high-grade paper. They are able to handle business papers of any subject, length, deadline, and difficulty!

Statistics

We boast of having some of the most experienced statistics experts in the industry. Our statistics experts have diverse skills, expertise, and knowledge to handle any kind of assignment. They have access to all kinds of software to get your assignment done.

Law

Writing a law essay may prove to be an insurmountable obstacle, especially when you need to know the peculiarities of the legislative framework. Take advantage of our top-notch law specialists and get superb grades and 100% satisfaction.

What discipline/subjects do you deal in?

We have highlighted some of the most popular subjects we handle above. Those are just a tip of the iceberg. We deal in all academic disciplines since our writers are as diverse. They have been drawn from across all disciplines, and orders are assigned to those writers believed to be the best in the field. In a nutshell, there is no task we cannot handle; all you need to do is place your order with us. As long as your instructions are clear, just trust we shall deliver irrespective of the discipline.

Are your writers competent enough to handle my paper?

Our essay writers are graduates with bachelor's, masters, Ph.D., and doctorate degrees in various subjects. The minimum requirement to be an essay writer with our essay writing service is to have a college degree. All our academic writers have a minimum of two years of academic writing. We have a stringent recruitment process to ensure that we get only the most competent essay writers in the industry. We also ensure that the writers are handsomely compensated for their value. The majority of our writers are native English speakers. As such, the fluency of language and grammar is impeccable.

What if I don’t like the paper?

There is a very low likelihood that you won’t like the paper.

Reasons being:

• When assigning your order, we match the paper’s discipline with the writer’s field/specialization. Since all our writers are graduates, we match the paper’s subject with the field the writer studied. For instance, if it’s a nursing paper, only a nursing graduate and writer will handle it. Furthermore, all our writers have academic writing experience and top-notch research skills.
• We have a quality assurance that reviews the paper before it gets to you. As such, we ensure that you get a paper that meets the required standard and will most definitely make the grade.

In the event that you don’t like your paper:

• The writer will revise the paper up to your pleasing. You have unlimited revisions. You simply need to highlight what specifically you don’t like about the paper, and the writer will make the amendments. The paper will be revised until you are satisfied. Revisions are free of charge
• We will have a different writer write the paper from scratch.
• Last resort, if the above does not work, we will refund your money.

Will the professor find out I didn’t write the paper myself?

Not at all. All papers are written from scratch. There is no way your tutor or instructor will realize that you did not write the paper yourself. In fact, we recommend using our assignment help services for consistent results.

What if the paper is plagiarized?

We check all papers for plagiarism before we submit them. We use powerful plagiarism checking software such as SafeAssign, LopesWrite, and Turnitin. We also upload the plagiarism report so that you can review it. We understand that plagiarism is academic suicide. We would not take the risk of submitting plagiarized work and jeopardize your academic journey. Furthermore, we do not sell or use prewritten papers, and each paper is written from scratch.

When will I get my paper?

You determine when you get the paper by setting the deadline when placing the order. All papers are delivered within the deadline. We are well aware that we operate in a time-sensitive industry. As such, we have laid out strategies to ensure that the client receives the paper on time and they never miss the deadline. We understand that papers that are submitted late have some points deducted. We do not want you to miss any points due to late submission. We work on beating deadlines by huge margins in order to ensure that you have ample time to review the paper before you submit it.

Will anyone find out that I used your services?

We have a privacy and confidentiality policy that guides our work. We NEVER share any customer information with third parties. Noone will ever know that you used our assignment help services. It’s only between you and us. We are bound by our policies to protect the customer’s identity and information. All your information, such as your names, phone number, email, order information, and so on, are protected. We have robust security systems that ensure that your data is protected. Hacking our systems is close to impossible, and it has never happened.

How our Assignment  Help Service Works

1.      Place an order

You fill all the paper instructions in the order form. Make sure you include all the helpful materials so that our academic writers can deliver the perfect paper. It will also help to eliminate unnecessary revisions.

2.      Pay for the order

Proceed to pay for the paper so that it can be assigned to one of our expert academic writers. The paper subject is matched with the writer’s area of specialization.

3.      Track the progress

You communicate with the writer and know about the progress of the paper. The client can ask the writer for drafts of the paper. The client can upload extra material and include additional instructions from the lecturer. Receive a paper.

4.      Download the paper

The paper is sent to your email and uploaded to your personal account. You also get a plagiarism report attached to your paper.

PLACE THIS ORDER OR A SIMILAR ORDER WITH US TODAY AND GET A PERFECT SCORE!!!