Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Microsoft CEO: 'We Built More Devices Than We Could Sell'
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
They need to drop Windows 8's price to maybe $20-$30 to get people to at least try it. $200 is way to much for an OS now a days when all the competition is pricing there's $20 (OSX) or free in the case of Linux (although its open source so maybe that doesn't count). I know Microsoft is a software company, but still a sale for $30 is better then no sale at $200.
'We Built More Devices Than We Could Sell'
Did anyone actually LOL when you read this? I may be a bit frivolous today, but I did. I know it's not good for competition to have a product come out and immedatley have their @$$ handed to them, but I STILL lol'd.
Did anyone actually LOL when you read this? I may be a bit frivolous today, but I did. I know it's not good for competition to have a product come out and immedatley have their @$$ handed to them, but I STILL lol'd.
I see some cheap surface pad for xmas.
If the drop the price to sub 200, the will sell like hotcakes.
----------
just priced too high. They targeted this a replacement for a mac air or something with similar horse power, but in the end comsumers see it as an overpriced tablet.
If the drop the price to sub 200, the will sell like hotcakes.
----------
just priced too high. They targeted this a replacement for a mac air or something with similar horse power, but in the end comsumers see it as an overpriced tablet.
Duh?
I guess you could say Steve Ballmer is no Tim Cook when it comes to understanding inventory.
I guess you could say Steve Ballmer is no Tim Cook when it comes to understanding inventory.
What I would like to see them do is really have some humble pie. Realize that segmenting your market immediately with the RT and Pro version is a stupid idea. While they aren't bad designed machines, they lack a cohesive identity. Thus take the RT's that they have in stock, and pull out the motherboards, replace them with Pro motherboards, batteries and back housing. Basically convert them to Pros. Maybe not full pros, maybe just Surface. But they run the same apps as the pros. Now you have the Surface and Surface Pro but they run the same version of the OS, same applications. One may be slower and less battery life? Ditch the RT completely, it's a dead dog.
Sell the Surface at the same prices as the RT was originally (or is now). And the Pro's for a bit more.
Offer free upgrades to anyone who purchased an RT. Yes it will hurt, but take the write off and be done with it. Make people realize you made a mistake and you're fixing it.
Oh, and drop the price of Windows 8 to $29.99 and it will sell just fine. $200 is stupidly high.
Sell the Surface at the same prices as the RT was originally (or is now). And the Pro's for a bit more.
Offer free upgrades to anyone who purchased an RT. Yes it will hurt, but take the write off and be done with it. Make people realize you made a mistake and you're fixing it.
Oh, and drop the price of Windows 8 to $29.99 and it will sell just fine. $200 is stupidly high.
I did. And I agree, Ballmer seems to be a big drag on the company.
I wish they had created a real mass-marketed Surface in more than just name. Their coffee-table Surface was a potential game-changer. Obviously, it was too big and too expensive for the mass market. But I still love the concept of a collaborative computing device. I liked the way it could pull down your smartphone data just by laying the phone on top. Microsoft never found a way to market it properly. Maybe they should have shown people dancing and holding coffee tables that clicked.
The World (3rd) now no longer solely relies on legacy apps once populated on Windows desktop. MS arrogantly forms business plan that banks on these plus the ubiquity of its OS, hence the obvious decline. They would have no gut to gut thrir Windows, rebuild from the ground up using Linux or Unix.
They have a huge group of followers of XBox gamers around which thet can build new desktop OS that integrates seamlessly with Linux and OS X. Then copy the Apple model by making hardware, sell OS for less than $100. Then they might see small lights at the end of the tunnel.
Of course XBox will always be big.
They have a huge group of followers of XBox gamers around which thet can build new desktop OS that integrates seamlessly with Linux and OS X. Then copy the Apple model by making hardware, sell OS for less than $100. Then they might see small lights at the end of the tunnel.
Of course XBox will always be big.
I really REALLY wonder why they haven't yet.
----------
developers developers developers
Spot on !
I've been saying that for years. Microsoft love them or hate them have very talented people working for them. Steve Ballmer is dragging the company down. Vista, Surface, Windows Phone, Windows 8 have all been released while under his leadership.
This guy is to Microsoft what John Sculley was to Apple.
At least he has a good grasp on the situation
What a legend! Dearly missed!
You could use gestures to help. Swipe 5 fingers up instead of the double press to see all running apps. . Swipe 5 fingers to either side to switch between apps. Close 5 fingers toward each other to go to home screen.
Agree wholeheartedly. 8.1 is, unfortunately, just the second part of the same joke.
----------
And that would be $99 WITH the touchpad
Spot on !
I've been saying that for years. Microsoft love them or hate them have very talented people working for them. Steve Ballmer is dragging the company down. Vista, Surface, Windows Phone, Windows 8 have all been released while under his leadership.
This guy is to Microsoft what John Sculley was to Apple.
Vista was not when he was CEO, Windows 7 was which is a fantastic OS.
No idea. It's not like he hasn't been given a chance. He's overseen their stock price slowly going downhill and hasn't done anything to correct it but instead accelerate it.
If your using an iPad, just use a 4 finger swipe between apps. But it would also be great if they came out with an API that allowed developers to make a portion of their app run in a smaller side view for multitasking. Like a calculator that just slides in from the side.
Competition is better for everyone. I would much rather see a healthy Microsoft that competes with Android and iOS, because it makes everybody work harder. When I saw what Microsoft was coming out with I was actually pretty glad because it looked like a decent product. Nothing I'd ever buy, but something good enough to get a decent marketshare. Apparently there's too many people like me who saw it as something they'd never buy, which is too bad.
Spot on !
I've been saying that for years. Microsoft love them or hate them have very talented people working for them. Steve Ballmer is dragging the company down. Vista, Surface, Windows Phone, Windows 8 have all been released while under his leadership.
This guy is to Microsoft what John Sculley was to Apple.
Microsoft really has fantastic people working for them, but unfortunately their management structure is terrible and products are mismanaged like crazy. I've talked to a number of guys over the years and they all describe a corporate culture that is a complete mess. Incredible products are kept locked away because they can't figure out how to fit them into Microsoft's existing business model. The right hand doesn't know what the left hand is doing. Bloated ancient ways of doing things are sacred and never modernized.
I say it starts at the top. Bring in a new CEO who can clear out the trash, streamline the whole company, and put the engineers back in charge.