Is Ballmer really the most "failed" Microsoft CEO?

7月28日，微软发布了2021年全年财务报告，年收入同比增长18%，净利润同比增长38%。微软成立46年后，作为硅谷的一个老巨人，它的增长仍然稳定——"大象"还在跳舞。

On July 28, Microsoft released the full year financial report of 2021. The annual revenue increased by 18% compared with the same period last year, and the net profit increased by 38% year-on-year. 46 years after its establishment, as an old giant in Silicon Valley, Microsoft's growth is still steady - "elephant" is still dancing.

就在一个月前，微软成为继苹果之后市值超过2万亿美元的第二家上市公司。来自世界各地的掌声献给了微软现任首席执行官萨蒂亚·纳德拉。随着azure云计算平台的季度同比增长超过50%，微软的股价在他任职的七年中飙升了六倍。微软甚至打破了这一先例，将董事长兼首席执行官的双重王冠授予了"金童"。

Just a month ago, Microsoft became the second listed company with a market value of more than $2 trillion after apple. Applause from all over the world was dedicated to the current Microsoft CEO Satya NADELLA. With the quarterly growth of more than 50% year-on-year of azure cloud computing platform, Microsoft's share price soared six times in his seven years in office. Microsoft even broke the precedent and put the double crown of chairman and CEO on the "golden boy".

有趣的是，很少有人看到，在纳德拉"振兴微软"的亮点背后，实际上有一位"老队长"——史蒂夫·鲍尔默，他按下开关让老巨人"重启"。

Interestingly, few people see that behind NADELLA's highlight of "revitalizing Microsoft", there is actually an "old captain" - Steve Ballmer, who presses the switch for the old giant to "restart".

作为前微软首席执行官，掌权14年的鲍尔默最出名的只有两件事：一件是开发者大会和NBA的"咆哮皇帝"；另一个是成功地让公司"清空"整个移动时代，并将同样的老诺基亚拖向死亡。

As a former Microsoft CEO, Ballmer, who has been in the palm for 14 years, is best known for only two things: one is the "roaring emperor" in the developer conference and the NBA; The other is the success of making the company "empty" the whole mobile era and dragging the same old Nokia to death.

随着信息产业的重心从大型计算机转向PC硬件和软件公司，1996年，即使年营业额不到IBM的四分之一，微软的市场价值也首次超过IBM。据当时的统计，windows占桌面操作系统的86.3%。

As the focus of the information industry shifted from mainframe computers to PC hardware and software companies, in 1996, even if the annual turnover was less than a quarter of IBM, Microsoft's market value exceeded IBM for the first time. According to the statistics at that time, windows accounted for 86.3% of the desktop operating system.

当时，拥有强大技术背景的公司需要销售人员来巩固其市场地位。"随着微软在20世纪80年代和90年代彻底改变了个人电脑的生活，微软的销售部门在规模和重要性上都有所增长。鲍尔默闪亮的光头、魁梧的身材和响亮的声音成为公司园区和行业会议的象征。用微软的话说，微软的员工要么是比尔·盖伊（bill guy）的技术人员，要么是史蒂夫·盖伊（Steve guy）的销售和营销人员。"路透社写道。

At that time, the company with strong technical background needed sales force to consolidate its market position. " As Microsoft revolutionized the life of personal computers in the 1980s and 1990s, Microsoft's sales department grew in size and importance. Ballmer's shining bald head, burly figure and loud voice became a symbol both in the company Park and industry conferences. In Microsoft's words, Microsoft employees are either bill guy - technicians or Steve guy - sales and marketing personnel. " Reuters wrote.

微软过去的成功可以总结如下：在PC时代，操作系统是操作员和计算机之间的接口。垄断操作系统就相当于牢牢抓住软件生态链的上游，所有应有的软件都依赖于它。

Microsoft's past success can be summarized as follows: in the PC era, the operating system is the interface between the operator and the computer. Monopolizing the operating system is equivalent to firmly grasping the upstream of the software ecological chain, and all due software depends on it.

然而，史蒂夫·乔布斯，一个有洞察力的人，总结了为什么微软会拒绝。"这些公司做得很好。他们进行创新，在某一领域成为或接近成为垄断者，然后产品质量就变得不那么重要了。这些公司开始重视优秀的销售人员，因为他们是改写收入数字的人，而不是产品工程师和设计师。"

However, Steve Jobs, a discerning man, summed up why Microsoft declined. "Such companies do well. They innovate and become or close to becoming monopolists in a certain field, and then the quality of products becomes less important. These companies began to attach importance to excellent salespeople because they are people who rewrite income figures, not product engineers and designers. "

有人说这是指鲍尔默。但事实上，乔布斯说：这是创始人比尔·盖茨的选择。他对首席执行官的选择决定了微软的衰落。

Some people say it's alluding to Ballmer. But in fact, jobs is saying: This is the choice of Bill Gates, the founder. His choice of CEO determines the decline of Microsoft.

然而，从比尔·盖茨的角度来看，鲍尔默作为一个在个人电脑时代拥有微软可持续发展能力的人，在业绩方面没有什么可挑剔的。它很好地实现了比尔·盖茨赋予他的使命，即"实现windows系统的最终价值"。

However, from Bill Gates' point of view, Ballmer, as a person with Microsoft's sustainable development in the PC era, has nothing to be picky about in terms of performance. It has well realized the mission given to him by Bill Gates to "achieve the ultimate value" of windows system.

在最初的几年里，华尔街对微软的爱超过了对苹果的爱。与总是启动新项目的苹果相比，鲍尔默领导下的微软更加稳定，能够做出漂亮的陈述。即使在2008年的金融危机中，强劲的收入也让微软在极端的信贷紧缩下拥有了足够的现金。备受赞誉的软件，如Windows XP、Windows 7和office 2013，都是在鲍尔默的领导下推出的。2006年，windows操作系统赢得了96.97%的市场份额，其中windows XP占了86.80%。

In the first few years, Wall Street loved Microsoft more than apple. Compared with apple, which always launched new projects, Microsoft under Ballmer was more stable and could present good-looking statements. Even in the 2008 financial crisis, strong revenue allowed Microsoft to have enough cash under the extreme credit crunch. Highly praised software such as Windows XP, Windows 7 and office 2013 were launched under Ballmer's leadership. In 2006, windows operating system won 96.97% of the market, of which Windows XP accounted for 86.80%.

2001年，苹果推出了iPod。两年后，微软想抢占这部分市场。消息传来，许多业内人士预测苹果将面临重大挑战。因此，微软音乐播放器Zune在2006年才真正推出。在没有产品创新、价格优势和窗口期的情况下，Zune只占据了4%的市场份额，而2009年iPod的市场份额为71%。这根黑色的茎杆甚至被美国戏剧《生活大爆炸》（big bang of life）视为笑柄，该剧至今仍在使用。

In 2001, Apple launched the iPod. Two years later, Microsoft wanted to grab this part of the market. The news came that many people in the industry predicted that Apple would face a major challenge. As a result, it was 2006 when Microsoft's music player Zune was really launched. Without product innovation, price advantage and window period, Zune only took 4% market share, compared with 71% for iPod in 2009. This black stem is even regarded as a laughing point by the American drama the big bang of life, which has been used today.

2011年，有报道称，当董事会在一些前沿领域行动缓慢时，促使鲍尔默调整了高级管理层，甚至采取了更极端的措施，可能是更换了首席执行官。

In 2011, it was reported that when the board of directors moved slowly in some cutting-edge fields, it prompted Ballmer to adjust the senior management, and even showed a more extreme measure, perhaps changing the CEO.

鲍尔默担心的是在收购诺基亚的问题上坚持"赌博"。最后，当董事会不同意时，愤怒的鲍尔默通过"威胁"离开迫使董事会做出让步。

Ballmer's concern is to insist on "gambling" on the acquisition of Nokia. Finally, when the board of directors disagreed, the angry Ballmer forced the board of directors to make concessions by "threatening" to leave.

Link：https://new.qq.com/omn/20210731/20210731A055TH00.html

update time：2021-07-31 17:18:08