Microsoft Getting Out Of The WiFi Business
Mostly by virtue of their name, Microsoft quickly became one of the leading sellers of WiFi networking products. However, they did so mostly to raise the profile of WiFi, and have succeeded in that goal (or, at least, WiFi has taken off quite a lot – though who knows how much credit Microsoft deserves). With that in mind, they’re apparently getting ready to leave the WiFi networking business to others. This probably makes sense, even though they were only in the market a short time. It certainly wasn’t core to Microsoft’s business, there’s little benefit to them owning the business, and there are lots of other players entering the market. Still, one of the common questions VCs like to ask startups is “what will you do if Microsoft enters your market?” Now, the other WiFi networking vendors need to answer the question “what do you do when Microsoft leaves your market?”
