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Microsoft Forced to Slash Surface RT Prices Despite Vigorous Anti-iPad Ad Campaign

portishead said:
haha. I didn't mean it to be some kind of back handed insult although it doesn't sort of come out that way. Most of the time we're not interacting with the OS anyway, we're using some other application. But we do need the OS to behave normally otherwise.
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Agree. The OS should get out of the way ASAP.
It's all about the apps these days.
 
LordVic said:
Move towards haswell for the next edition of the Surface pro should be a no brainer.

Just look at the battery life increase on the MBA's from moving from ivy to haswell. 10-12 hour battery life? Thats pretty sweet!

One of the biggest detractors from the Surface pro was that in order to accomodate the x86 architecture in a non gimped CPU (Aka Atom), the device was made bigger and heavier, pushing the boundaries of what people wanted to use as a tablet. Then The 4ish battery life gave the perception that this was a bad tablet (though it was in line with the battery expectations of other 11" based Ultrabooks).

If MSFT can resolve the battery issue, and bring the Pro more in line with weight / dimensions of the RT, due to Haswells much improved thermal design, And then bring the price point more in line with the ipad, I would imagine the Surface Pro would be a formidable contender in the high end tablet / low end ultrabook marketplace.

However, under the current strategy of putting the RT up against the ipad at the similar price point is a mistake. And the Surface Pro also suffers from people 'ignoring' microsofts offerings cause of the misaligned RT
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I don't think the surface Pro 2 will be a huge leap IMO. Haswell is rated at about a 30% improvement in battery life, which I would say would bring up it's current 4ish hours to what, 5:15 maybe? Yeah I'm terrible at math. I don't see the form factor changing much either, probably same thickness and weight, but I'm just guessing.

The real innovation IMO will be Baytrail, the next quad core Atom processor which is one Intel has been working on specifically for this, ie: it's not a netbook processor doubled to a dual CPU stuffed into a tablet like Clovertrail was. Although in all fairness Clovertrail runs windows VERY well IMO. The beauty of Atom is that you get 10+ hours battery, and you get a thin and light tablet, and with Baytrail we will get some power and supposedly a big leap in graphics as well. I'd also be surprised if Baytrail didn't have even more battery life than the 10+ hours we get with today's atom chip.

Hopefully we see some Baytrail by holidays or early next year. Personally I'm not going to buy a Haswell tablet, I'm quite happy with my current Atom tablet and can wait until the Baytrail tablets come out.
 
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that's okay, they're just trying to get a strong hold in the market and then they'll start working their way up.
 
Although the design of the Surface is very aesthetically pleasing and the whole keyboard case is great, I tried it first hand, and it just lacks the fluidity of the iPad. If they lower the price another $100 you'll have a fire-sale for sure!
 
dolph0291 said:
Apple's market share in the mobile phone market has not declined.
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I was not talking about phones but OS. Android is an OS not a smartphone...

Android has taken market share from everyone else, like Nokia and Blackberry.
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And Apple. http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-57591022-94/iphone-loses-market-share-in-europe-as-android-surges/

As far as tablets go, well, if the iPad had 100% of the market share (since it was the only game in town) then if even one table by another manufacturer was sold the iPad has lost market share. But Apple still has a strong lead.
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You call dropping from 100% to below 50% a strong lead? You must be a motivator for job ;)

http://www.forbes.com/sites/chuckjones/2013/02/02/apples-ipad-market-share-slips-farther-below-50/

I know people - I know this is anecdotal but I don't think it's uncommon - who see a tablet advertised at Wal-Mart, for example, for $199 and rush to buy it. They don't know what brand it is or what software it runs. They want a tablet. Then they get a crappy tablet and they give it to their kids, or a friend, or throw it in the kitchen drawer.
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yeah yeah, this is typical Apple Fanboy talk. Apple is good, the rest is crap. Hardly convincing. Don't get me wrong, I like iPad's, got 2 myself and iPhones and I also work on Mac Pro's for work. But to suggest that the current competition is just crap only shows a lack of know-how about the competition's usage of hardware and nothing else.
 
Renzatic said:
I don't see Win8 on the desktop as being all that bad myself, but then again, I rarely ever use actual Metro apps.

See, I like the idea of what MS is doing with Windows 8, and I can understand it's a necessary transitional product between the old ways and new, but they could've designed things to handle a little better than what we've got.
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I agree. Win 8 desktop is not bad. Metro is actually not bad, it's easy to set up. It's just that the first thing done usually takes you to the desktop and there is no reason to go back to metro. The integration of desktop and metro are bad in my mind.

It's really a very stable os. I think if metro was an overlay over the desktop and automatically went there after finishing what you were doing it would be better integrated.
 
Can we say Zune Tablet?

Zune Zuuuunnneee Zune.......

I do kind of like the keyboard cover idea, but why would I want to buy yet another one of Microsoft's second/third to market copies of Apple's products, when I can buy the Apple products (which I did) instead? hmmmmmm

Has anyone ever seen MS actually come up with an original idea?

No wait.... they do beta test new operating systems on the masses and sell them as release software don't they? They've done that pretty much since day one.

Balmer and Gates will never be "cool".... because they never really come up with anything original, they are copy cats, and I wonder if their day is finally coming?

Zuuuuuuuuuune Zune Zuuune Zuuuuune.... Tablet.

Now free with the purchase of Windows X...... omg.. they're copying Apple yet again.

Latest News Reports indicate Steve Balmer and Bill Gates have just invented....

The Wheel!!!!!
 
thejadedmonkey said:
How does MR know that Microsoft is forced to slash prices, and isn't just trying to clear out inventory for the refresh? When Apple does it, MR doesn't seem to post stories about how the iPhone is failing to sell.
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Well, the iPhone NEVER fails to sale lol. Apple could up the prices by $100 and people would still line-up outside the stores to buy it at 5am.
 
Microsoft helps sell the iPad standard

When a standard is in place better not mention it. RT sales will fall to zero after liquidation sale. Watch for Ballmer to step down right before RT is discontinued. A visionary will step in to make a UNIX version of Windows. :cool:
 
Kerber0s34 said:
What's your malfunction? How am I a shill? My job (developer) requires me to work in the MS world, which is not a bad thing. Personally I am a closet apple fan boy. I've had every iphone to date, except the 4s, (typing this on my 5). I've also had a few android phones. I already have two 1st Gen iPads in my household so if I really want one I can wrestle it away from my wife. My personal laptop is a Mac book air, and will buy the next Gen one whenever that comes out.

Productive for me on the RT means being able to alt tab between docs while replying to emails, and yes, spreadsheets. A lot of my productivity involves reviewing and editing code files. Before the RT, I did this on the iPad, just not as easily.

As for the next iPad, of course there will be another iPad, just like there will be a 2015 Ford Mustang, or a 4k Samsung tv. Won't be this month or maybe even this year. But there will be one. I simply recognized that I can get $400 for my iPad 3 now or much less later.

One can live in more than one world and be quite happy.
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And your Surface came with Windows 8.1? C'mon.
 
tymaster50 said:
Well, the iPhone NEVER fails to sale lol. Apple could up the prices by $100 and people would still line-up outside the stores to buy it at 5am.
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Stories such as Apple slashing the first iPhone by $200, or Verizon having too many iPhones, and Wal*Mart having a sale - by your very logic - would seem to show that the iPhone is in fact failing to sell as well as expected.
 
Honestly, I wouldn't be averse to a new surface RT. That Tegra 3 was the final nail in the coffin. New chip, lower price to reflect what it actually is worth. sold.
 
Only if its free...

I maybe tempted to have one if it is free. Thinking about it though maybe no.....:D
 
thejadedmonkey said:
Stories such as Apple slashing the first iPhone by $200, or Verizon having too many iPhones, and Wal*Mart having a sale - by your very logic - would seem to show that the iPhone is in fact failing to sell as well as expected.
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to be fair, the first iPhone was brand new and not many people knew what it was. I mean how easy was it to get an iPhone 5 in the first few months if you live in a state that has a lot of people in it? Wal-mart having a sale was to get more people to buy from wal-mart that's all, and verizon probably had too many phones because they ordered too many.
 
tymaster50 said:
to be fair, the first iPhone was brand new and not many people knew what it was. I mean how easy was it to get an iPhone 5 in the first few months if you live in a state that has a lot of people in it? Wal-mart having a sale was to get more people to buy from wal-mart that's all, and verizon probably had too many phones because they ordered too many.
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And to be fair, Microsoft never stated sales expectations or whether or not they're simply trying to clear inventory.
 
So Microsoft gives (tries to!) Apple a hard time about iPad not truly multitasking (specifically not displaying 2+ windows at a time...)

Meanwhile Microsoft has an inability to actually sell these things.

As a potential shareholder or senior exec for either MS or Apple, I know where I'd rather hitch my wagon, and it's not MS...
 
mschmalenbach said:
So Microsoft gives (tries to!) Apple a hard time about iPad not truly multitasking (specifically not displaying 2+ windows at a time...)

Meanwhile Microsoft has an inability to actually sell these things.

As a potential shareholder or senior exec for either MS or Apple, I know where I'd rather hitch my wagon, and it's not MS...
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Share price isn't your friend in this case.

Microsoft is at a or close to a 5 year high.
Google is at an All time high for the history of the company.

Apple is down nearly $280 US since Sept of last year.

Those calling for Balmer to lose his CEO job may be looking at the wrong CEO...

Balmer wasn't testifying and found guilty of collusion and price fixing.

Keep in mind that Apple dropped the price of the original iPhone by $200 a mere 10 weeks after it was released.
 
4TheLoveOfTech said:
Share price isn't your friend in this case.

Microsoft is at a or close to a 5 year high.
Google is at an All time high for the history of the company.

Apple is down nearly $280 US since Sept of last year.

Those calling for Balmer to lose his CEO job may be looking at the wrong CEO...

Balmer wasn't testifying and found guilty of collusion and price fixing.

Keep in mind that Apple dropped the price of the original iPhone by $200 a mere 10 weeks after it was released.
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MS is doing some good stuff right now... it's just the brand has eroded so much over the years it's become status quo to dismiss them. I'm one of those guys who a few years ago was like, I love the Apple ecosystem, I'm never going back to Windows. And here I am, all high on what MS is doing. I don't know how much of it is Ballmer and how much of it is his execs but they're making huge gutsy moves across different markets right now.

Meanwhile AAPL is slowly experiencing brand erosion. Tim Cook has not done anything special except maintain profits in current markets, which are gradually being eaten into by margin compression. I'm hoping he pulls something out of a hat because I think Apple has the best hardware on the market but I don't see him as a risktaker at this point.
 
osofast240sx said:
Tinkering with the pro today for a couple of hours. Just made me want to use a laptop.
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This is exactly how I felt when messed with it. It's a really nice looking gadget though but it just fails totally, I really don't see this around in the next couple years. I can get a better experience out of just about everything else.
 
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