How would you consider an alliance between MSFT and Amazon?

[liolio]

Hi all,
Lately the idea of an alliance between Amazon and MSFT has made its way into my head and the more I think about it the more it makes sense to me.
We have here two companies with completely different backgrounds but I think they have similar goals and there is a good amount of overlapping in the offering of both companies which means great opportunity to rationalize their operating cost and to give better visibility of a rationalized offering to customers.
Google and Apple Stores are at this too well established to be fought by alternated assaults of either company but together they could provide something neither of theirs competitors can: an unified online store, a store where you can buy "anything".
That store would be the Keystone of an environment you access with a singIe ID from casual games to hardcore ones, from reading books to buying those incredibly trendy pair of socks, from your photos saved on the cloud to buying a new camera, etc.
Apple and Google can't do that, neither can Amazon or MSFT in insulation but they have greater incentives to join forces than the two others.

What is your opinion on the matter?

 

[Deleted member 13524]

I don't think it's very interesting for Microsoft to establish a special relationship with Amazon because that would potentially marginalize all other retailers.

Plus, Microsoft is pretty much worldwide. Amazon isn't.

 

[Alexko]

I don't quite see what MSFT would bring to Amazon.

 

[liolio]

I don't quite see what MSFT would bring to Amazon.

Short answer I really have to go to bed. Support and how to for services they run or want to run (Here Cortana, etc.) MSFT services are not match yet for Google but they are far ahead of what Amazon provides. MSFT really has a couple of things down like voices recognition, my winphone kills my android phone on that aspect. MSFT could help Amazon to get into some countries with virtual good first.
Amazon hardware is pretty easily "unlocked" and made into running other appstores, if not custom ROM, Windows mobie would make the matter more complicated, so it would be a more properly controlled environment so they don't find themselves selling tablets in the greey to people that are to root the devices. Windows mobile is secure and MSFT would keep the OS up to date.

 

[eastmen]

MS wouldn't need amazon , they could just put out their own handsets skinned as they want too and make their own store. It be easier to add one drive / ms account hooks into a game that way and just put it on the store.

The problem is android is a fragmented mess.