Playing to our stength

[humblehkguy]

Bill Gates said "We are seeing media coming down onto the phone, not only music, but even video. And so the way it works together with your PC and the software needs to be more intelligent. These are playing to our stength."

What does the phrase "these are playing to our stength." mean ?

Thanks in advance,

[mykwyner]

He means that those companies' needs can be met by the strongest assets of Gates' company.

[humblehkguy]

Sorry, I don't really get the meaning yet. What about the general meaning of it or can you give some examples on the usage of the phrase "playing to one's strength" ?

Thanks again,

[mykwyner]

I think that this is a metaphor from sports where you try to determine the other team's weaknesses and adjust your "play" accordingly. For instance, if a football team (A) has an inexperienced player and an injured player both on the left side of the field, the opposing (B) team should play to their (A's) weaknesses by attacking on the left side every time they can.

If team B continues to attack on A's right side, where there are no weak players, then they (B) are playing to A's strengths, and will probably lose to A.