Microsoft (MSFT) issued weak guidance last night. The outlooks for consumer PC and business PC guidance were both disappointing.
This is interesting and potentially negative for two reasons:
- Research from firms like Gartner have shown strong demand recently for laptops and PCs as more people work from home.
- Multiple news stories in the last 1-2 weeks have noticed rising success of Google Chromebooks.
Google’s free Linux-based operating system appears to be gaining market share schools. There also seems to be a growing push for Chromebooks in the enterprise space as Dell, Lenovo and Samsung push new computers.
No one else seems to be connecting the dots yet, but this could be a trend to watch. MSFT is trying to grow in the cloud with services like Azure, but still relies heavily on traditional PC sales and Windows. A challenge from GOOGL in the PC market might not be priced in.