Microsoft Announces New 'Surface' Tablet, New Hardware and Software Based on Windows 8

[brdeveloper]

But the natural competition of Surface pro is the traditional laptop. If they are priced about the same, why would someone order a surface pro and not just your familiar laptop? Msft is entering into a chaotic zone where they are trying to move their laptop users into tablet. But their partners (HP, Dell, Leveno...) will have a say into how this transition is done. Some of them are doing better with laptop production and they will start discounting laptop.. And we will see a dogfight within the Msft ecosystems... Will Microsoft win anything if all their laptop user move into tablet but just use the tablet the same way as their old laptop?

Of course they'll win. It's just about time until Apple bring us their new Macpad retina. I'll certainly think about buying something like this. In the Surface Pro, I can opt between a tablet UI when I'm reading news in the café or the "Pro" UI when I'm at work. Pretty simple and practical. Only the granmas will use iOS/WinRT stuff.

Who cares if laptops won't exist anymore or HP/Dell/Lenovo will have to move to the Tabtop market? They're still moving to the Ultrabook market. Get rid of the keyboard, put a touchscreen at the same place and they're done.

 

[Death-T]

Games. Who gives a **** about games. This is not a toy. This is for making some $$$ for work. Buying the surface pro for travel purposes. No more heavy laptop to lunge around.

I agree. I didn't mean to say that the Surface is really meant for games, or that it will be marketed that way. But if Microsoft wants the Surface to compete with the iPad and a host of Android tablets, then it will probably be lacking in the 'fun factor' that those tablets have. And with the way the Surface is priced, Microsoft may want to consider that since consumers will be asking "Why buy this tablet when I can buy a $300 netbook at Walmart?". I definitely like what the Surface is doing, but it risks being unsuccessful in the long run if people see it more as a small gimmicky laptop rather than an alternative to the Kindle Fire, iPad, Galaxy Tab, etc.

 

[Liquorpuki]

I'm siding with Tim Cook on the surface. It's a confused product.

Pro or nothing for me.

RT will die due technological advances and lack of interest. X86 chips will become more efficient.

RT is more or less a straight iPad competitor, which will fail unless Windows 8 or the Pro gives it something to piggyback off of

The Pro is something else though. Just like Apple is trying to create a midrange market with the Mini, Microsoft is trying to create an Ultra Premium market with the Pro.

I haven't upgraded from the first iPad because I don't use it for anything else except as an e-Reader or surfing the net. That thing has been sitting in the trunk of my car for the past month and I don't even miss it because the app store's budget price model keeps it from being anything more than an expensive toy that runs cheap software. The Pro (along with maybe the hybrids) is the only tablet that can change that by restructuring how and what types of software get installed on a tablet. Instead of crappy $5 junk, I can put a full pro level suite on there that might be able to do something useful for once.

 

[xofruitcake]

Of course they'll win. It's just about time until Apple bring us their new Macpad retina. I'll certainly think about buying something like this. In the Surface Pro, I can opt between a tablet UI when I'm reading news in the café or the "Pro" UI when I'm at work. Pretty simple and practical. Only the granmas will use iOS/WinRT stuff.

Who cares if laptops won't exist anymore or HP/Dell/Lenovo will have to move to the Tabtop market? They're still moving to the Ultrabook market. Get rid of the keyboard, put a touchscreen at the same place and they're done.

The problem is that Surface pro is not going to be price at 499.. It is going to be in the 800 and above range. At that price, you can have a laptop weighted about 3.5 lbs and get either an Ipad mini or an Android tablet for the same price. Surface pro use intel processor and it is hell of expensive as compare to ARM processor and it take more power as well (so heavier and bigger??). An interesting question is how to define success in Surface RT sales. Ipad 3 sold 3m units in the first weekend. Would Suface RT match that number in the first weekend? Sell 1M unit? 500K unit?

Microsoft need to care about their vendors because they need to sell a lot of these tablet to set up the ecosystem. Icloud has about 190m active users last Q and they are the potential consumer for any Ios Apps. And Apple also sold the 100Mth Ipad last Q. So the active Ipad user may be in the 60-70m range (with the rest broken, retired ....). When will the number of Microsoft Surface (and other Window 8 tablet) users get to that kind of range to provide incentive for app developers?

Google is doing the scotch earth strategy that selling Nexus 7 (and most like Nexus 10 also) at price that won't make them any money to may be losing money after factoring into development, distribution, and marketing cost. There will be no other Android vendors willing to build an Android tablet anymore because Google set the Nexus 7 price too low for anyone to make a profit. Long term unless Google is willing to loss more and more money every quarter, it is hard to see how the android tablet market keep expanding. All future Google tablet will come from Google except that they don't design their own tablet. Nexus 7 is builded by ASUS and Nexus 10 is builded by Samsung. So if no one else is building Android tablet, where will Google get the design team to build the next Nexus?

http://appleinsider.com/articles/12/10/25/notes-of-interest-from-apples-q4-2012-conference-call

 

[spinedoc77]

The problem is that Surface pro is not going to be price at 499.. It is going to be in the 800 and above range. At that price, you can have a laptop weighted about 3.5 lbs and get either an Ipad mini or an Android tablet for the same price. Surface pro use intel processor and it is hell of expensive as compare to ARM processor and it take more power as well (so heavier and bigger??). An interesting question is how to define success in Surface RT sales. Ipad 3 sold 3m units in the first weekend. Would Suface RT match that number in the first weekend? Sell 1M unit? 500K unit?

Microsoft need to care about their vendors because they need to sell a lot of these tablet to set up the ecosystem. Icloud has about 190m active users last Q and they are the potential consumer for any Ios Apps. And Apple also sold the 100Mth Ipad last Q. So the active Ipad user may be in the 60-70m range (with the rest broken, retired ....). When will the number of Microsoft Surface (and other Window 8 tablet) users get to that kind of range to provide incentive for app developers?

Google is doing the scotch earth strategy that selling Nexus 7 (and most like Nexus 10 also) at price that won't make them any money to may be losing money after factoring into development, distribution, and marketing cost. There will be no other Android vendors willing to build an Android tablet anymore because Google set the Nexus 7 price too low for anyone to make a profit. Long term unless Google is willing to loss more and more money every quarter, it is hard to see how the android tablet market keep expanding. All future Google tablet will come from Google except that they don't design their own tablet. Nexus 7 is builded by ASUS and Nexus 10 is builded by Samsung. So if no one else is building Android tablet, where will Google get the design team to build the next Nexus?

http://appleinsider.com/articles/12/10/25/notes-of-interest-from-apples-q4-2012-conference-call

Don't forget the surface Pro is a full ivy bridge CPU, that market is going to be highly niche IMO. The Windows 8 Pro devices with the Atom chips are going to be more in the $599 range, very comparable to the ipads. I think there will be more people than you think who will have no issue paying the same price as an ipad for a "real OS", or how Microsoft needs to market this to your average consumer.

I am seeing a lot of shortsighted comments asking why people wouldn't just buy a $300 cheapie best buy laptop. Shouldn't that EXACT question be asked when shopping for an ipad? Or how about a macbook air, or a high end sony? It's not like every single human on the planet has $300 in mind when buying a laptop. Those consumers are probably not going to convert over to a more expensive ipad or surface device anyhow.

The other thing that is being missed is the awesome value of having a tablet AND a laptop. Is a tablet useless? Obviously not seeing the popularity of tablets. Are laptops useless? Obviously not, they still sell and people need them. Now the consumer doesn't have to make that choice, they can get a laptop AND a tablet AND on top of that have the OS they are used to day in and day out. As for the functionality of a small screen, that's a strawman argument as well. With the myriad of PC makers we are sure to have a 13, 15, etc inch screened tablet/laptop device. There will be a device for everyone, instead of everyone for one device.

 

[Renzatic]

Scotch earth strategy? Is that where we get everyone drunk, then rob their houses while they're passed out?

...cuz I like that idea!

And this, people, is how you start a new page with style.