Chapter ten - Industrial Organization in Canada
Link: http://www.canada.com/technology/Microsoft+unveil+free+anti+virus+software/1685913/story.html
Summary
This article is about how Microsoft is about to release a free anti-virus service, named Morro, for personal computers. Currently, Microsoft is testing an an early version of the product with its own employees while consumers are anticipating for the newly released trial version that would be available through Microsoft's website. Investors are also observing the service which may be a competition with other anti-virus companies such as Symantec and McAfee. However, Symantec and McAfee do not consider Morro as a threat to their sales. This product would include features such as encryption, firewalls, password protection, parental controls, and data backup. It will have also protection against malicious software like viruses, spywares, rootkits, and trojans.
Connection
The connections between chapter ten and this article is the focus on microeconomics and Microsoft. Microsoft is considered a corporation and they have made a decision on creating a free anti-virus service which would have an impact on other anti-virus companies' sales. This competition could be consider as oligopoly because there are many anti-virus services that are very similar and performs the regular tasks such as firewalls and malicious software protection. The price of Microsoft's product is "free" which may cause other companies to change price in order to keep up with the sales because Microsoft is a corporation which is highly trusted and many consumers may think that this new product is better, taking into consideration that it is free, from a well known corporation, and safe on Microsoft's official website.
Reflection
Although Symantec and McAfee do not think that Morro would have an effect on their sales, I think there will be at least a few people who may choose this service over the others. I personally would try Morro because it is free and it is from a safe site. There may be basic protections for a computer only but it is good enough for most teenagers, including myself, who use the computer for research, homework, MSN messenger, hotmail, and music. Also, most email service already include an auto junk-mail block or a warning message for emails that maybe harmful. However, if Microsoft's new service is a success, their competition may decrease their price and do advertisement that would differentiate their product's special features in order to gain their customers back.
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2 comments:
Melissa,
I personally think that Morro would have a great impact on Symantec and McAfee sales. Morro is a free product for computers it would attract a lot of people especially teenagers, low income families, and those that don’t know anything about computers. Often when things are free, people are more likely to try it out. If they don’t like it they would go back to their usual product or try a different product. This is like a product tester to see how things would work out, if it works out well they might put a price on it in the future and or keep it free and be loyal to their product users. But nonetheless I see this product being successful.
m.MAO
I also think that Symantec and McAfee are being arrogant in believing new products released by a reputable company like Microsoft will not affect their sales. The free and safe product will have consumers scrambling to try, especially in the current recession where people are trying to get the most with their money. With the exception of large companies, I think most people will find Morro sufficient because computers are used as tools for simple purposes like exchanging email, viewing or uploading pictures, and do not require a massive amount of maintenance.
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