In June, Microsoft bought LinkedIn for over $26 billion.
Poor LinkedIn.
They say they’ll leave it alone. I hope so. Otherwise it risks of ending up like Skype, which in a short time has gone from a simple little gem that you fell in love with at first glance, to a difficult device to stay away from. Not to mention Nokia…
So far Microsoft has not had much “luck” – so to speak – in its diversifications:
Bing
It was set to become the alternative web advertising channel to Google.
It failed.
Skype
Purchased in 2011 for $8 billion.
Strategic objective: dunno. They said the aim was to get into the messaging business.
Since then Skype has improved so much… that WhatsApp exploded (bought from Facebook).
How much is Skype worthing now? They say its income is less than 1 billion dollars.
Nokia
Purchased in 2014 for $7 billion.
Strategic objective: boh. Patents? Entry into TLC mobile?
Sold in May 2016 for $350 million.
Will LinkedIn be next?
I’m not an analyst. So, I say things that make analysts shake.
But I’m a user. So, I know what users need.
And here’s what I’m predicting as a user:
- LinkedIn risks becoming heavier and more complicated within a couple of years. So heavy and complicated that you will always want to use it less and less.
- In the meantime, Facebook will introduce business features and will feed the whole professional market that LinkedIn has spent 13 years building.
- Finally, PayPerClick Linkedin’s advertising program too, far from being enhanced and made a formidable lead generation tool for B2B, will become less and less usable.
I hope I’m wrong. But if by chance I got it right, wouldn’t Bill Gates be able to go back and take a look at what’s going on?
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