Taking into account the competitive position
among innovators, it is worth noting that
Microsoft enjoyed platform advantage through
ownership of over 90 per cent of PC customers.
Microsoft developed platform advantage from its
control over the technology platform, business
platform and de facto standard for operating
systems. However, Microsoft’s business platform
is vulnerable to erosion by state regulation rather
than from competitors reacting to Microsoft’s anticompetitive
software bundling and predatory
pricing of software. Microsoft’s declining share
price (see Figure 5) was a result of legal action by
the US authorities against Microsoft’s anti
competitive behaviour in the market for PC
operating systems and software.
To remain competitiveness in the software
business, Microsoft aggressively upgraded its
technology platform and business platform by
purchasing/acquiring the software firms, e.g