Gotta make room for “Windows RT” somehow. Only the strong survive.

Seriously, just look at that chart. Look at it!

I was positive — POSITIVE — that the “Windows RT” name was a joke when I first heard it earlier.

Turns out, it wasn’t a joke.

It should have been a joke.

I really like the Windows Phone OS. And I’d love to try one of the new Nokia devices. I’ve heard nothing but good things. But despite a nice array of talent, Microsoft is in a playoff race and they’re getting absolutely smoked. What do you do when that happens? You switch coaches. Hence, out with Andy Lees, in with Terry Myerson.

It’s interesting to see Microsoft in this position. They’re seemingly learning an old Apple lesson: great products alone don’t always win. In the past, Microsoft has been able to leverage Windows to propel even shitty products to the title. But they haven’t done that here yet — except in name (which remains ridiculous, there are no goddamn windows).

I fully expect to see more Windows Phone/Windows PC synergy in the near future. But I fear this will only hurt Windows Phone, the product.

New HP CEO Meg Whitman acknowledges the trend happening. Even if you don’t count the iPad (which you probably should), Apple’s share of the PC market continues to rise slow and steady and could eventually push Apple past HP as the top computer maker.

While everyone is busy debating if iOS/Android will be a repeat of the Mac/Windows war, they’re missing the flipside. The Mac/Windows race is starting to look more like the iOS/Android one. That is, Apple is the big single brand in terms of units, but as one self-contained player, they can’t overtake the larger ecosystem (Windows and Android). 

But it doesn’t matter like it used to. Times have changed. Developers go where they can make money and right now Apple’s smaller but much more tightly integrated ecosystem is beating the larger ecosystems in this regard. 

Maybe that will change, but maybe it won’t.

One thing not up for debate: profits matter. And there’s absolutely no question that even with modest market share, Apple is crushing everyone — including all of the kings of the rival ecosystems: HP and Microsoft and Google. 

Record revenue for Microsoft for the quarter overall, BUT — the gap between Microsoft and Apple in terms of revenue is widening. And fast.

Microsoft earned $17.37 billion in revenue for the quarter, Apple did $28.57 billion in the same quarter.

Apple just passed Microsoft in profit last quarter, and that’s gap is increasing as well. Microsoft’s net income was $5.87 billion, Apple’s was $7.31 billion.

Perhaps most troubling for Microsoft, the Windows revenue shrank for the quarter — and for the entire year. 

Microsoft touts $69.94 billion in revenue for the year (their previous four quarters). Over the same span — ready for it? — Apple has $100.32 billion in revenue.

Wow.

And yes, Apple has also pulled ahead in profit for the year. Microsoft touts $23.15 billion, Apple is now at $23.61 billion in the same span.

The first of about 100,000 “me too” or “we were doing this a long time ago” posts from Apple/iCloud competitors.

These guys don’t seem to realize one thing: no one gives a shit who did something first. It’s all about who did it right. iPod, iPhone, iPad, etc.

Maybe that will be Apple here, maybe not. But I can’t recall Apple doing a “me too” or “we were doing this first” type post after a competitor launches something. 

If you have to tell people you won, you lost. 

So if I’m reading this correctly: one version of Windows for Intel-based PCs, one for ARM-based tablets, and one for Intel-based tablets.

And let me just guess: one “Professional” version for each platform, one “Home” version for each platform, one “Premium” version for each platform. Probably more.

I’m thinking there will be about 26,000 different combinations for users to choose from!

The end result will be most of them choosing an iPad. 

The headline is slightly misleading because it’s noting that OS X/iOS enabling the hardware profits, whereas the Windows’ profits comes from licenses sold.

But.

That does seem to be the way things are headed. Or really, the way they have already headed. 

The other day, BusinessInsider posted a graph noting now Windows 7 licenses were “still blowing away Apple” (comparing them to iOS unit sales). But that’s misleading as well because it does not look at the money being made.

In terms of unit sales, yes, Microsoft is far ahead. But it’s comparing software license sales to hardware sales. As Asymco’s post notes, Apple is making about three times the profit of Microsoft here despite the sales gap. 

To quote Horace Dediu, “The post-PC era is being kicked off by a new business model where profits are being concentrated in a hardware+software+service integrator”.

Ed Bott predicts a wave of “serious malware” is about to hit OS X. Why? Because as it becomes more popular, it will be the target of more attackers.

Okay fine, but didn’t someone warn us about this same thing two and a half years ago for the very same reason?

Oh yes, Ed Bott.

“Coming soon”.