News
The Vista Effect
Eighteen dollars.
That's how much revenue the "ecosystem beyond Microsoft" can expect
to gain from every $1 that Redmond makes on Windows Vista in the United
States this year, according to a white paper from Framingham, Mass.-based
research firm IDC.
All told, that ecosystem -- which includes the Microsoft partner community
-- will sell $70 billion worth of Vista-related hardware, software and
services in 2007, the report estimates. That sales figure is about 18
times the amount projected for Microsoft's first-year revenues from Vista.
As a result, "for every dollar of Microsoft Windows Vista revenues, other
companies make $18," the December 2006 report states.
Because of their specialized focus, training and certification, Microsoft
partners can expect to reap an average of $2.50 more per dollar of Microsoft's
Vista revenue than non-partner companies will make, IDC says.
While the Microsoft-sponsored study focused only on the United States,
other IDC research found the same trends in Europe.
About the Author
Anne Stuart, the former executive editor of Redmond Channel Partner, is a business technology freelance writer based in Boston, Mass.