Partnership between Amazon and Microsoft - Essay Example

Although they have different strengths and products, Amazon and Microsoft share the same market which makes competition inevitable. However, both companies can fare better if they cooperate. First, it would increase the exposure and scope of Amazon products. Secondly, it would provide Microsoft with more assets (e.g. in music retail) and prevent companies like Apple from dominating their respective markets. More importantly, Amazon and Microsoft are more like complementary companies than competitors.

For example, Microsoft could provide the software to Amazon’s Kindle (Perlow, 2010).On the part of the consumers, however, such a partnership may not be beneficial. As in traditional trade, online commerce can be monopolized. Monopolies can dictate the online market to their advantage, just as in the case of Google whose “new formats…increase expenses for advertisers” (Edwards, 2010). Scenarios like that would trigger a domino effect that would eventually burden consumers.