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Microsoft-Google-Apple 3-way cage fight

The battle lines have been drawn. The war chests are stocked with tens of billions of dollars in cash. Microsoft, Apple and Google are ready to compete with their integrated technology stacks connecting mobile devices to cloud services. Who is best placed to win?
Written by Stilgherrian , Contributor

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The battle lines have been drawn. The war chests are stocked with tens of billions of dollars in cash. Microsoft, Apple and Google are ready to compete with their integrated technology stacks connecting mobile devices to cloud services. Who is best placed to win?

In the last two weeks, all three companies have reported strong quarterly revenue growth. Apple announced record revenues yet again, in fact, and the market seemed unperturbed by Steve Jobs going on medical leave. Microsoft announced record revenues too, boasting successes with Kinect, Windows 7 and Office 2010. Google saw solid revenue growth of 26 per cent year-on-year, and the market seemed to respond well to its own leadership changes.

On Patch Monday this week, our panel of experts discuss the strengths and weaknesses of each company's position. Sam Higgins is research director at Brisbane-based ICT research and advisory company Longhaus. Derry Finkeldey is a principal research analyst with Gartner specialising in branding and marketing issues. And Keith Ahern is founder of one of Australia's leading mobile application developers, Mogeneration.

As usual, Patch Monday also includes my random look at last week's IT news.

To leave an audio comment for Patch Monday, Skype to stilgherrian, or phone Sydney 02 8011 3733.

Running time: 29 minutes, 50 seconds

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