10 companies bought by Microsoft  

Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT, NYSE: MSFT) is an American public corporation built in April 4, 1975. With head office located in Redmond, Washington, USA, Microsoft Corporation produces, develops, assembles, certifies and sustains an extensive series of products and services, related primarily to information technology through its various product divisions. When it started in 1975, its main objective was to create and vend BASIC interpreters for the Altair 8800. It was in the mid 80s when the company ascended to manage the home computer operating system market with MS-DOS, and followed it up with Microsoft Windows operating systems. It then dominated the officesuite market via Microsoft Office. In the following years after that, the company got bigger and ventured into the game video industry via the Xbox and Xbox 360. Microsoft likewise entered the consumer electronics and digital services industry via MSN, Zune and the Windows Phone OS.

Regarded as an icon in the field of internet technology, Microsoft has bought numerous companies that are worth over a billion dollars for the past years. From the time Microsoft bought her very first acquisition in 1987, the company bought out an average of 6 companies within a year. It had bought more than 10 firms in a year since 2005 and bought 18 companies in 2006, an unprecedented accomplishment of Microsoft as far as buying out companies is concerned.

Listed below are the top 10 biggest acquirements of Microsoft.

1. SKYPE (Free Calls over the Internet - $8.5 billion cash).

The deal closed in the evening of May 10, 2011 at 8.5 billion dollars in ready money. Although some skeptics viewed the buyout as ludicrous, the arrangement may be tactically momentous and important for Microsoft. With the buyout, they hope that Skype would regain its supremacy on online communications, which was taken by the emergence of Facebook, Gmail and Apple. However, since Skype's social networking and user-base facilities are not profitable except its features, some observers think that this may affect its usability. Nevertheless, if Microsoft can effectively incorporate Skype with its Exchange and communication tools along with Windows Phone 7 then users will more like utilize Skype.

2. aQuantive, Advertising Software and Services

Microsoft bought Yahoo aQuantive for $ 6 billion in 2007 to equal the acquisition of DoubleClick by Google as well as to keep Yahoo out in the rivalry. This Seattle-based company also owns Avenue A/Razorfis, a digital advertising agency, aside from a whole range of products for publishers and advertisers. But since the incorporation did not materialize properly, Microsoft has diverted its advertising strategy on exploring or search. Microsoft sold Avenue A in 2009 to advertising multinational WPP for $530 million.

3. Navision Accounting Software

Microsoft acquired the Danish accounting and enterprise software management, Navision Accounting Software to enhance its division, Microsoft Business Solutions. The transaction ended with Microsoft paying $ 1.45 billion dollars both in cash and in stocks to the original owners. During the time of the buyout, Navision is booming in Europe while Great Plains is thriving in North America, which was obtained by Microsoft in 2001. Although buying Navision Axapta software was a success, it never reached the expectations that Microsoft had at the time of purchase.

4. Visio - Design and Charting Software

A mapping software company, Visio was purchased by Microsoft for US $ 1.3 billion. Visio is still available in the market, which proved that the acquisition is successful; and it is continually upgraded with every Office release. Its projected income is more than a few hundred million dollars per year.

5. FAST Search and Transfer -- Enterprise Search Specialists

Bought by Microsoft in the early part of 2008 for 1.2 billion dollars was a Norwegian business search company, FAST Search and Transfer. A few months after the deal took effect, FAST rumored to have been accused of accounting fraud was forayed by the police. Despite the arrest, however, it became an essential constituent of SharePoint, Microsoft's collaborative and enterprise search all server products.

6. Great Plains Accounting Software

Microsoft announced its intention of buying Great Plains, an accounting software and business management company, in December 2000. Great Plains was bought for $940 million. The company was renamed Dynamics and makes $1 billion in sales every year, most of which are from Dynamics CRM developed by Microsoft in house.

7. TellMe VT (Voice Technology)

TellMe VT was bought for $800 million although Microsoft never confirmed the exact amount. Computerize voice technology is provided by TellMe to big clients like Verizon and American Airlines that includes free automatic company directory. Microsoft incorporated other technology to other areas such as Kinect.

8. Danger, Mobile Software and Services

Microsoft purchased Danger in early 2008 for an estimated amount of $ 500 million. However, the buyout was stymied by internal conflict, as when the Danger team was working in what would become the Kin phone; another group was constructing Windows 7. For this reason, Kin, which has minimal features, was launched later than the target date and did not fare well resulting to its untimely removal from the market in less than 2 months.

9. Greenfield Online, including price-comparison site Ciao

Bought for about $486 million in August 2008 by Microsoft, the German company Greenfield Online that also owns the trademark Ciao comparison-shopping sites is still functioning autonomously. Ciao is one of the companies that protested to the European Union on the manner that Google classifies search results prompting an EU antitrust investigation into Google in 2010.

10. WebTV, an early Internet-on-TV company ($425 million)

From the time the internet became well known and well accepted, Microsoft already had in mind that eventually people would want to surf from their television. This prompted Microsoft to buy WebTV in 1997 for $425 million both in cash and in stocks. The product was not profitable that even a different brand name, MSN TV, did not help to push the sales. Selling MSN TV was discontinued and Microsoft instead centered its strategy on Xbox, which proved to be gainful.

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