| Click photo to enlarge  FILE - In this Monday, June 18, 2012, file photo, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer comments on the Windows 8 operating system. The PC industry is in a slump, as consumers show more interest in tablet computers and smartphones. Officially, PC makers say they expect Windows 8, which launches Oct. 26, 2012, to get buyers to open their wallets, but industry watchers and analysts are skeptical. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes, File)  Largely responsible for helping diminish Microsoft's dominance as a technology leader, Silicon Valley now faces the question of whether a new CEO to replace longtime leader Steve Ballmer will make the Redmond, Wash., giant a more potent rival to companies here. For years, the software behemoth enjoyed enormous influence in the valley. The company boasts a Bay Area workforce of nearly 2,800 and maintains ties with major local companies. But its clout here has weakened under the 13-year reign of Ballmer, who shocked the tech world Friday when he said he would step down within 12 months. With his looming departure, the names of several valley executives are being floated as his possible replacement. If picked to be his successor, they might help bolster the company's stature in the Bay Area, some analysts believe. However, they said that would require a major effort, given how far the corporate colossus has fallen."Could new management at Microsoft change things? Sure," said tech analyst Jack Gold. "They could reinvigorate their market and perhaps spur PC sales again. They might find new markets and software ecosystems to invigorate. But it's unlikely they can recapture the near-monopoly status they once had. It's clear that Microsoft's influence in the valley and tech has waned substantially over the past three to four years. Getting it back won't be easy." Founded in 1975, Microsoft is among the world's biggest corporations, with about 100,000 workers, annual sales of nearly $80 billion and a stock market value of $289 billion. It opened its first office in Silicon Valley in 1981. Although its products range from the Xbox video-gaming system and Bing Web search engine to phones and tablets, Microsoft primarily is known for its Windows operating-system software. Used in a variety of computerized devices, from servers to laptops, that software has been its main link to Silicon Valley. For years, virtually anyone with a personal computer used Windows running on so-called x86 microprocessors, mostly manufactured by Santa Clara-based Intel (INTC). Microsoft and Intel became so closely aligned through their technology that their partnership was dubbed Wintel. Among other local companies, Microsoft also developed ties with Palo Alto giant Hewlett-Packard (HPQ ), whose computers used Windows. Sunnyvale-based Yahoo (YHOO) uses Bing to power its searches. But over time, valley companies -- including Apple (AAPL) -- adopted alternatives to the x86 and Windows. That gave birth to smartphones and other mobile devices, which exploded in popularity and diminished sales of PCs and Intel's chips. Microsoft recently began to offer tablets using chips from an Intel competitor, while Intel has been pushing its chips into Android-based tablets, creating what some analysts say is tension between the two firms. At the same time, Silicon Valley has exploded with companies offering Web-based products that don't require Windows and that, in some cases, compete directly with Microsoft. Many people today, for example, use Google's (GOOG) Web browser Chrome as an alternative to Microsoft's browser, Internet Explorer. And Google is taking direct aim at Windows by developing Chrome as a computer operating system. Meanwhile Microsoft has had little luck selling its tablet. And despite Microsoft's recent acquisition of social networking firm Yammer and Internet communications company Skype, critics contend the Redmond giant has been far too slow getting into cutting-edge technologies. Some analysts say Microsoft would do well to replace Ballmer with someone from Silicon Valley, who might infuse the company with new energy. Among their preferred candidates are William Veghte, a former Microsoft vice president who was just named head of an HP computer-networking division; Patrick Gelsinger, VMware's CEO and former Intel senior vice president; and Vic Gundotra, a senior vice president at Google, who formerly was a Microsoft general manger. It's possible they might get a look. Microsoft has said it is willing to consider outside candidates, and the board member heading up the search for Ballmer's replacement is John Thompson, former chairman and CEO of Mountain View-based Symantec. Whether anyone -- with or without a Silicon Valley pedigree -- could resurrect Microsoft's stature here isn't clear. Steve Jobs was able to reverse Apple's fortunes after being ousted from its board in 1985, noted tech analyst Rob Enderle. But whether a new CEO could do the same with Microsoft, he added, "depends on the person." Added tech specialist Charles King, the question is "whether the new leader will be given that open hand that I think is needed to change what I call Microsoft's inherent cultural qualities that have been impeding some of its progress in new areas." But Global Equities Research analyst Trip Chowdhry remains skeptical, given how far behind the technological curve he contends the software company now trails. "Today, Microsoft is not relevant," he said. "When was the last time you heard anybody say, 'Let's wait to see what Microsoft does'?" Contact Steve Johnson at 408-920-5043. Follow him at Twitter.com/steveatmercnews.  via Technology - Google News http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&usg=AFQjCNELYLGvkHSZ2i7ZZ71OttoJBOm7Nw&url=http://www.mercurynews.com/business/ci_23930757/ballmer-resignation-may-have-ripple-effect-silicon-valley | |||
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