Monday, May 10, 2004 |
22:09 - Doooomed
http://news.com.com/2100-7351_3-5209677.html?tag=nefd.top
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Beleaguered Software Company Quits Wi-Fi Scene Leaves Lucrative Field to Competition
Despite quickly becoming one of the leading sellers of wireless networking products, Microsoft has decided to discontinue its entire line of Wi-Fi gear, CNET News.com has learned.
A source close to the company said Microsoft entered the Wi-Fi field with hopes of "raising the bar" on security, ease-of-use and performance and now feels it has accomplished those goals.
Microsoft confirmed the move late Monday.
"After careful evaluation, the Microsoft hardware group has decided to scale back its broadband hardware and networking business," a representative said. "Instead, the plan is to apply the knowledge we have gained in that category to future products and services."
Wow. Apparently the problem is that even though they had this integrated, easy-setup approach to home networking, they were "slower than rivals in introducing 802.11g products." Really? How can that be? This is Microsoft we're talking about. How can they be less well equipped to handle a field like this than the competition?
Ah well—I guess filing the corners off a public standard so it's no longer compatible with the rest of the world takes time, doesn't it?
(Via Kris.)
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