The Battle Between Apple, Microsoft and Google

The Battle Between Apple, Microsoft and Google:
Strategic Lessons from a Converging
Internet Industry 2000-2010
Case study
Reference no 310-245-1

This case was written by Markus Schimmer, Professor Dr. Günter Müller-Stewens and Peder
Sponland, University of St Gallen. It is intended to be used as the basis for class discussion rather than to illustrate either effective or ineffective handling of a management situation.
The case was compiled from published sources.
© 2010, University of St. Gallen
No part of this publication may be copied, stored, transmitted, reproduced or distributed in any form or medium whatsoever without the permission of the copyright owner.

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Introduction
From the first discussions of a “galactic network” in 1962, the Internet has developed into an enormous information infrastructure. While it has initially been a governmental research tool, its full public access in 1994 propelled the network into a global cultural phenomenon. Four years after its public initiation, already more than 50 million private users were online, followed by an unlike larger number in the years thereafter. With about 2 billion users in 2009, the Internet has also grown into an own global economy of unprecedented size. This new economy is driven by a relentless force of technological and conceptual innovations stemming from an innumerable number of parties scattered around the globe. Its speed of change and innovation make it to a highly competitive arena.
Apple, Microsoft and Google have been the most successful companies within this arena for a long time. Throughout the previous decades, they have internalized the economic laws and
technological