MSN 8.0 launches Thursday, focus on international markets
Microsoft launches MSN 8.0 on Thursday, with Europe being a big focus albeit a different strategy than America Online, according to this Wall Street Journal story (subscription required). Microsft points out that AOL:
is essentially competing with European telecom companies with its own Internet-access service. In Europe, those companies offer Internet access themselves and have made it hard for rivals to enter their markets. After lobbying regulators in Europe, America Online has obtained some concessions and is approaching profitability in the U.K. But it still faces an uphill battle in countries like Germany.
Competing against local telecoms in Europe is "madness," declares Judy Gibbons, MSN's European vice president. "You'll never make any money."
...In the U.S., Microsoft also "seems more focused on content distribution" than on Internet access, says Ross Sealfon, an analyst at research firm International Data Corp. in Framingham, Mass. He notes that Microsoft's market share as a service provider was roughly flat for the first two quarters of this year. All of MSN's nearly nine million access subscribers are in the U.S.; America Online has 26.5 million subscribers in the U.S. and 35 million globally.