This was a big week for the computer industry – Apple continued to show strength with a favorable earnings report and new marketing campaign; Microsoft launched Windows 7 (in the hope of erasing Vista’s memory forever) and, while the company’s earnings fell 18% to $3.6 billion or 40 cents per share, they beat street estimates of 32 cents a share. This week also signaled a new battle between the two companies as they compete for user attention, and, as VentureBeat reporter Dean Takahashi pointed out, “The overall PC market is expected to grow just 2 percent in the third quarter. That means Apple is taking market share from Windows still.”
Apple has solidified its status as a media darling with its iPod and Mac products, but how do the companies really compare? And what about their respective leaders?
When looking at employee approval ratings of each CEO, Steve Jobs’ 90% approval helps solidify his iconic status, and he completely overshadows’ Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer’s rating of just 41%. In Glassdoor’s deeper analysis of 90-day trailing averages, Jobs’ has always held more than a 20 percentage point lead over Ballmer. Jobs’ rating took a dip in recent weeks, while Ballmer’s approval rating continued ...
