Marketing and all things related

Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) CEO Steve Ballmer made some big claims at the Web 2.0 Summit this past week when he stated Microsoft is ready to make 20 acquisitions per year for the next five years.  Of course, Ballmer didn't offer any details about this ambiguous acquisitions, but he did say most of the purchases will be between $50-$100 million up to a couple hundred million dollars.  That leaves a lot of possibilities open to speculation.

Is a strategy of acquiring 20 companies per year for five years a crazy one?  Probably not when you consider the aggressive acquisition strategies implemented by Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) over the past few years.  It looks like Microsoft does not want to be left behind, but the company does have a reputation of being slow to market and ignoring the competition.  Consider as an example how Ballmer responded when asked if Google Docs and Spreadsheets is a good product:

"If you want to do what most of our customers do with Microsoft Office today? No. If you want to get a few people to collaborate on an nice simple thing, Microsoft Live provides richer capability. We pay attention to what the other guys do. If what you want to do is something you would do in Word and Excel today, Word and Excel is the best place to do it."

To further demonstrate his arrogance, Steve Ballmer gave out his email address at the Web 2.0 Summit asking entrepreneurs to contact him to tell him about any products they want to sell.  When the Web 2.0 Summit host, John Battelle, warned Ballmer that he just opened himself up to an onslaught of emails, Ballmer  shrugged off the warning saying, "maybe one will be worth buying."

What do you think of Microsoft's acquisition strategy according to CEO Steve Ballmer?  Can Microsoft keep pace with the likes of Google or will their arrogance be their fatal flaw?  Is Steve Ballmer crazy?  Various theories are circulating online about this one.  How do you weigh in?

Photo Credit: Duncan Davidson