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Though analysts are impressed with Microsoft Surface (MSFT +3.7%), few see it as a huge threat...
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Tuesday, June 19, 2012, 2:18 PM ETThough analysts are impressed with Microsoft Surface (MSFT +3.7%), few see it as a huge threat to the iPad (AAPL +0.6%). Jefferies' Peter Misek thinks Microsoft will need to "significantly undercut" the iPad on pricing (something that's unlikely given its specs) to be competitive, and argues the iPad's 225K+ apps set it apart. However, Forrester's David Johnson believes Windows RT's management features, user interface, and Office support will appeal to enterprise users. (more)
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i5 is
his speech seemed to suggest ARM => iPad pricing, i5 => Air pricing
This development brings an even better outlook for the stock in the short to mid term timeline. Doomers and nay-sayers abound, which is why it's clear the competition's coming out forcefully using all means available to discredit the new product even before it's out to the public. Good luck with that strategy. It's an old and tired one, serving to underscore the fear in the heart of all with a vested interest in Microsoft's failure.
The proof is always in the pudding.
A tablet is only as good as the software and applications running on it. Developers' support is the key since it means that the creative and innovative people are creating programs for the platform. The more money developers make = more programs = successful platform/hardware sales.
Apple has done this right with iOS. For example, I can still install an app I bought in 2007 on any of my iOS devices I own today and it works perfectly. I haven't bought a ton of apps but I have enough that I am locked in. Fortunately, I enjoy Apple's product and see no reason to switch. I'm sure a lot of people are on a similar boat.
You see mobile apps advertized by your local news station and such for Apple and Android but rarely for Windows. A mobile app for Windows phone has been a second thought UNTIL NOW. The surface is a game changer that will move windows mobile app development ahead of android and eventually catch up with Apple. Having more apps is just another marketing ploy for Apple. The real indicator is how many applications continue to be actively downloaded 6 months after they release, not the total available.
If a worker needs a full blown MS Office, they will likely need a keyboard. If they need a keyboard, why would they buy a tablet over a notebook? Notebooks have more powerful processors, larger screens, are likely more robust and more expandable (at least to a small degree).
Where I see tablets being used in industry is where I already see the iPad being used, when you need a portable device with an app designed specifically for the purpose of the tablet, for example inventory control or accessing on-line documentation. These apps rarely need either a keyboard or MS Office.
Bob Langelaan
If you don't understand the gadget/tech world, invest somewhere else...
This is a double edged sword for Microsoft. My Ultrabook plans are now dead - what does this do to MS licensing revenue? Each Ultrabook brings MS licensing for the OS ($40), Office ($250+), Exchange ($10-20). Assuming cost is 10% higher than Apple - a $499 Surface will net MS at best $275 while costing the lost Ultrabook sale. Looks like a zero sum game unless someone expects everyone to have two devices. At best this a short term boost for MS that has huge ramifications for Intel and the rest of the PC ecosystem. I'll bet Meg Whitman is re-thinking her about face on PC's.
Why are your ultrabook plans on hold? because you will buy a surface? how does MS lose if that's the case?
also, you have to realize there are two models. the surface RT won't replace an ultrabook unless all you need on your laptop is word and exchange. the surface pro, which will have an Intel CPU, will cost the same as an ultrabook with similar specs
The Atom version of Surface is quite enough - and even RT handles the top 90% of applications requirements - I assume full Powerpoint viewing and spreadsheet as well as Word and Exchange. Under competition from Apple and Android I expect both RT and Atom to price compress - and both will reduce market demand for Ultrabook in general but laptops in particular. If I am in corporate purchsing - I will look at surface with an eye to delivering an adequate work platform to the bulk of my users for lower cost - due in the main to the licensing for Office.
Industry concentration of demand will hurt the straggling players at the margin of the PC space - and the cycle begins.
1. there are two surface models and the pro version will run all existing windows software. This is the model the enterprise will go for. say goodbye to bringing an ipad device to the work place since it doesn't replace the laptop that user still needs. the surface pro can be used as a laptop and a tablet in one device.
2. This isn't windows phone. this is windows. If you go to developer events you'll see the different interest levels. even now, two years into windows phone and before windows 8 is released, there are 4-5 times more devs at win8 events.
These developers realize all new PCs released from late 2012 will come with windows 8. They hear the predictions of close to 400 million PCs sold in 2013, all running windows 8. They will not be left out of this party.
What's missed in the ipad/surface comparisons I saw so far is the fact the ipad is a toy and not a tool. you're very limited in what you can actually do with it. the surface could be a different story (at least the pro version)
No young person I know would touch a Mr. Softy Windows product
dinosaur technology no design synergy they will go with their
matching cool hot (AAPL) gear.State of the art
SIRI retina display iOS 6 integrated Twitter Facebook etc.
A few clueless old farts withwindows 8 will buy but smells
and feels just like the "Zune" intro to us their last abysmal failure .
We will stay away to little too late.
But I hate to wait 6 minutes for my dell to boot up. Perhaps I'll get an apple laptop which boots up in 10 seconds.
Will Surface boot up in 10 seconds?? Will things work smoothly together?? What is battery life (I heard that it is much less than iPad)
I own both MSFT and Appl, but apple is 10x more.
If anything, I see this as a repeat as Android. People creating apps for windows 8 will have to deal with an extremely fragmented architecture so if anything, Android's pie is the one that's being eaten.
Windows will run any device because all devices have drivers written for Windows, and the drivers install automagically right from Windows Update.
Fragmentation, and the tremendous difficulty of updating the OS on Android and Apple products, is directly due to this fact and no other.
MSFT has been dealing with this for decades and can update its OS easily, even though it has to run and operate on and with hundreds of thousands of different hardware.
This means, Windows will never suffer from fragmentation. It means that rather than waiting for Google to update the 'platform' and then your device maker to update said platform to work with your device, updates are seamless like on your desktop. This means that while Apple folks wait for Apple to innovate, Windows users will have folks worldwide doing it for them.
This is also why you can run Windows on your Apple product and cannot run Apple's OS on just any configuration of hardware. And you never will be cause Apple likes it that way.
If you don't think MSFT coming out with Surface is a big deal, think again.
What we're excited about is some real improvements in the hardware.
Why would I lug around a tablet that requires me to use logmein and struggle with an interface not designed to operate a desktop, which also has to be on 24/7, when I can simply carry a tablet that does everything my desktop can?
You can use logmein just as easily on a windows based tablet as you can on an iPad (i've used many of the remote apps including stuff like hamachi and vnc) and you aren't limited by app compatibility.
Basically my point is simply this:
Folks, like me, aren't excited because there will be a MSFT branded tablet, or because there will be a Windows tablet, since we already have that - but we'll have modern tablet specific UI elements, battery life, product weight.
My personal issue with the tablets on the market is Silverlight / Java / Flash so I end up on Windows. The pain this causes me is only in battery life and a clunky UI, which I look forward to MSFT remedying with this product.
http://bit.ly/Kln028
That said, I think my third generation iPad and my IPhone 4s are incredible pieces of equipment. The ipad is far superior to any android tablet currently on the market as is the iPhone.
While my iPad is a joy to use and I have it with me constantly, it just cannot replace my desktop and laptop for many of my computing needs. I need my iPad in addition to my other computers.
The Microsoft Surface appears to be a beautiful device aesthetically built with a high level of quality like the iPad and has ports similar to a pc including a full size USB and an Sd. The thin keyboard hidden in the cover and the seemless stand are wonderful and functional ideas.
It is extremely powerful in that it can run programs like Office Pro like a full blown computer yet it is as portable and thin as an iPad. However, unlike the iPad, it seems as if the Surface can truly replace my laptop, desktop AND my iPad. If it performs as well in real life as in the demo videos, one now has a very powerful, beautiful looking computer that is a mobile as a tablet that can eliminate the need for other computers. I only now need the one device.
While the idiotic talking heads on CNBC are already putting this tablet down, I believe that if Microsoft can deliver this product to work as well as it looks, they have a remarkable, innovative device that is really more sophisticated and useable than the iPad with respect to serious computing.
There are plenty of consumers who don't care for Apple and it's OS, nor do they care for the limited and fragmented Android OS and the hardware that is designed for it. Unlike Android, the Microsoft Surface will cater to the higher end buyer as does Apple. If the new Microsoft tablet is that good, I think it and Apple will be the two dominant platforms and rightly so as they are the two best systems out there. For Microsoft to be a winner with this new tablet, Apple does not have to lose. They can both co-exist and each will appeal to it's respective discerning buyer. I think Android vendors such as Amazon will be pushed further down the food chain appealing to the very low end consumer. I am looking forward to buying a Surface when available to try it out and excited to see the pending horse race developing between two thoroughbreds.
An Apple bear with integrity might be mutually trusted, like JT.