MSN in major strategy shift
WinInfo | at | by Mike
According to a report by market researcher IDC, Microsoft is once again fiddling with its MSN unit, in a gigantic strategy shift that will remake the online service as a co-branded Web portal that's marketed to broadband Internet suppliers. Microsoft, predictably, is downplaying the change, referring to it as a refinement of its existing strategy, but the changes are vast, and will eventually see the company leaving the online services market, a potentially calamitous situation for MSN's 8.7 million subscribers. On a different level, however, the strategy shift is most interesting because it marks the first time Microsoft will drop its long-held desire to unseat America Online (AOL) as the number one online service.