Microsoft Surface Estimated to Have Sold Only 1.7 Million Units Since Launch

[SockRolid]

This scenario is becoming firmly established now. Microsoft bangs out a hardware product that is either:

1. A poor copy of an enormously successful Apple product (e.g. Zune), or
2. A poorly designed alternative to an enormously successful Apple product (e.g. Surface, Windows Phones), or
3. A poorly designed original product that nobody wants (e.g. KIN.)

It was almost OK for Zune to fail. It was just a portable consumer electronics entertainment device, and sure, that's a pretty fickle market to tackle. Better for a big company to fail in that market than a small one. The loss can just be written off, and everyone moves on.

But the mobile computing industry is vastly more important. It's the future of computing, and it's already cutting into Microsoft's legacy desktop computing revenue. You'd think they would be engaged, interested, and innovative in the mobile space. But no. They're still focused on their core competencies: legacy desktop Windows + Office in the enterprise. And they can't even get that right half the time (e.g. Windows Vista, Windows 8.)

 

[IJ Reilly]

Another day in the life of the world's greatest technology company.

 

[MRU]

I don't get why so many of you are saying that it is a good product poorly marketed. Sorry but the Surface RT is a bad product poorly marketed.
.

The news article is only referring to the Pro model sales though not the RT model. This basic confusion over which is which is also a fundemental factor in why its sales have been poor.

 

[EbookReader]

It will be an uphill battle for Microsoft Surface to gain market share.....

Unless Microsoft also play the "low margin, high volume" game.

http://www.computerworld.com/s/arti...ple_and_Microsoft?taxonomyId=241&pageNumber=2

Minus cost cuts and discounts -- far from a given by either Apple or Microsoft -- there's no chance either company will shove Android aside as the share leader, said King, parroting other analysts who have said Google's operating system will remain dominant for the foreseeable future.

 

[BruceEBonus]

Serves them right for using that android-whiny-voiced-kindergarten-singer-lady for their adverts ... talk about totally missing the target audience.

It looked like a 1980's MTV advert gone wrong ... and it had ...

Sack those naughty PR people please, Bill (Gates)

They got too smug ... and presumed cos it was Microsoft Windows based - everyone would buy it

Apple - take note!

 

[macs4nw]

It's not as though Microsoft did not see this coming. And if it did not then it was willful blindness. There are no apps. Not then. Not now. Apple was either brilliant or lucky in that it shelved the "early iPad" and switched to iPhone. Smart move. It didn't have many apps but there were a few and - hey - it's a phone ! So by the time they worked on iPad, there were tens/hundreds of thousands of iPhone apps and almost all would run on iPad. Clear win. So what does MS do ? Introduce a marginal-hardware tablet with no app ecosystem. Does the result match expectations ? Yep. Everywhere but Redmond. Maybe Steve Ballmer's reality-distortion-field is stronger than Steve Jobs's - perhaps it is proportional to the speed at which the chairs move in the conference room ?

Some apt observations. They were perhaps counting on the popularity of Windows, to carry the Surface.

Siri: 14.6 Million in Q3 of 2013.
Surface: I'm sorry I can't do that.

Ooh, you are so naughty.....

.....Despite the slow sales of the Surface tablets, Microsoft is said to be pushing forward with plans for a second generation tablet.

Article Link: Microsoft Surface Estimated to Have Sold Only 1.7 Million Units Since Launch

It's a shame that with all their resources, and with all the talented people working at MS, they haven't been able to come up with worthy competition for the iPad, which would ultimately be good for us, the consumers.

Now, they're evidently going to plunge headlong into the Surface ll. Maybe it's time for a pause, and a good long introspection, as well as a brutally honest dissection of what went wrong, or they might be writing off another couple of billions.

 

[donutbagel]

This scenario is becoming firmly established now. Microsoft bangs out a hardware product that is either:

1. A poor copy of an enormously successful Apple product (e.g. Zune), or
2. A poorly designed alternative to an enormously successful Apple product (e.g. Surface, Windows Phones), or
3. A poorly designed original product that nobody wants (e.g. KIN.)

Or 4. An original but pretty generic product that's often annoying and unreliable, but the alternatives aren't much better, and it's pretty popular (Xbox 360, Xbox). I have the original Xbox, and it's a good thing they're cheap now because my second one might be on its last legs.

 

[SockRolid]

...which isn't really good for anybody except Apple's staff and shareholders. Competition is what makes companies give it their best, not monopolies.

There it is. The m-word. Monopoly. Maybe that's Microsoft's fatal weakness.
They've had a near-monopoly on legacy desktop computing for too long.
They've forgotten how to compete. And they've lost touch with consumers.

 

[thekev]

Cars outselling trucks, indeed.

Methinks that the name "Windows" has a lot to do with Surface's failure to appeal to today's market. There is a stigma attached to that name that they will not shake, at least not in the tablet space. Despite what Microsoft may think, consumers have clearly voted with their wallets that they do not want Windows or physical keyboards on their tablets. Time to rebrand and refocus.

That in itself is a myopic view. Apple built on the momentum of the iphone. Microsoft doesn't have such momentum in a similar interface. It has little to do with keyboard or no keyboard. If the platform requires the ability to input large amounts of data, it will require a method, keyboard or otherwise. Just viewing these as tablets rather than computing devices is the other problem. They are simply computing devices no matter how you brand them. What I would take away from the iPad is that it is easily transported, can be used virtually anywhere, and it built off a successful interface. Looking at the design, I thought their goal was to attract more in the way of corporate customers anyway.

 

[EbookReader]

Except when Microsoft actually wins and forces everyone to use their stuff. I'm just hoping that Apple wins but won't take so much market share that it's basically a monopoly. Maybe 60% is good. Oh, and I want my 2 friends who use Windows to switch so I don't have to use freaking Skype and Facebook to accommodate them.

In the tablet market share, it's Android that is winning. Low margin tablets usually sell the most. Both Microsoft and Apple are playing the "high margin" strategy. Nothing wrong with that.

2Q of 2013 market share

Android tablet: 67%
Ipad: 28.3%
Windows tablet: 4.5%

2Q of 2012 vs 2Q of 2013

 

[SockRolid]

Or 4. An original but pretty generic product that's often annoying and unreliable, but the alternatives aren't much better (Xbox 360, Xbox).

Agree. Skating to where the puck was.
Xbox One is still a legacy gaming platform.
Plus a mandatory cable TV connection.

 

[demodave]

The problem though is that Microsoft was late to the party with tablets - and with a low marketshare as a result of this they won't have many developers making apps for them. With no apps, few will buy the tablet. With few buying it, it will have a low marketshare... and so the paradox continues.

But MS weren't late to the market with tablets. They tried to market tablets ten plus years ago. They just weren't any good at it!

I'm not trying to say that this is easy: hell, Apple kinda screwed the pooch, too, with the Newton. And the Palm Pilot (which I have owned and had high hopes for at the time) was also totally derivative from the Newton. It didn't do all that well. I was releived to finally be rid of it when I got my iPhone 3G. (I waited, because I wanted the 3G. It was excruciating, because my best friend had an Original iPhone, and I *wanted* an iPhone. I'll never look back.)

It's not easy, clearly, but to see MS cock it up so badly so many years later? That's just sad.

 

[IJ Reilly]

There it is. The m-word. Monopoly. Maybe that's Microsoft's fatal weakness.
They've had a near-monopoly on legacy desktop computing for too long.
They've forgotten how to compete. And they've lost touch with consumers.

This is the crux of the problem, but I think you understate it. In truth, they've never really had to compete.

 

[SockRolid]

In the tablet market share, it's Android that is winning. Low margin tablets usually sell the most. Both Microsoft and Apple are playing the "high margin" strategy. Nothing wrong with that.

2Q of 2013 market share

Android tablet: 67%
Ipad: 28.3%
Windows tablet: 4.5%

2Q of 2012 vs 2Q of 2013
Image

There you go again.
Market share, market share, market share, market share, market share.

Too bad Google can't turn that "market share" into profit.
Google makes more money from ads on iOS than from Android.
Ironic, isn't it?

 

[tech4all]

So then Macbooks were junk too until a few years ago since they didn't sell well? Same could be said of Macs in general for about 30 years.

You it's funny, now Mac users have become the "PC users." Now they're the one's saying numbers matter.

Well if that were the case, then Macs must suck since they have, what, 10% or less of the market share compared to Windows PCs.

Now ya'll sing a different tune when Apple's numbers are higher. LOL!

 

[swingerofbirch]

If I understood why the iPad is so popular, I could say what Microsoft is doing wrong. But I don't, so I can't.

Maybe that's Microsoft's problem, too?

 

[tech4all]

There you go again.
Market share, market share, market share, market share, market share.

Too bad Google can't turn that "market share" into profit.
Google makes more money from ads on iOS than from Android.
Ironic, isn't it?

Bottom line is though, Google is making A LOT of money. Google makes money from ads. Apple makes money from iOS and iToys from brilliant marketing. Microsoft, well nobody cares about them anymore

If I understood why the iPad is so popular, I could say what Microsoft is doing wrong. But I don't, so I can't.

Maybe that's Microsoft's problem, too?

It has the "hip" factor to it. At the cost of paying more than what's it's actually worth.

 

[macs4nw]

Except when Microsoft actually wins and forces everyone to use their stuff. I'm just hoping that Apple wins but won't take so much market share that it's basically a monopoly. Maybe 60% is good. Oh, and I want my 2 friends who use Windows to switch so I don't have to use freaking Skype and Facebook to accommodate them.

One of my favorite pet peeves also. FaceTime was supposed to have become an open industry standard, but that unfortunately never materialized. Source: http://www.fiercedeveloper.com/story/facetime-open-standard-never-happened/2012-12-06

 

[goobot]

If I understood why the iPad is so popular, I could say what Microsoft is doing wrong. But I don't, so I can't.

Maybe that's Microsoft's problem, too?

The iPad was successful because right off the bat it had a large app store thanks to the iPhone. You can have the best piece of hardware ever but without software to back it up is there any real potential in a device? The problem with the surface is that it could have used the advantages of having windows applications but the rt doesn't really have that advantage at all and the pro is expensive, has horrible battery life, and seems to get hot easily.

 

[JoEw]

This is the crux of the problem, but I think you understate it. In truth, they've never really had to compete.

IE perfect example.

 

[carmenodie]

There also something else about that MS tablet. The chip inside cannot handle graphics like the beasts in a regular laptop. Try playing COD on that sh** and watch the freaking tiles explode in your damn faces.In realty it can't play COD or anything else because the chip ain't built for that.
Neither can the iPad but hell, that's the iPad and I have the mini 32 gig.
MS has shot itself in the foot again. On purpose.

 

[Amazing Iceman]

Android was crap at first, so not too many people went over to it. Then it got to be useable, so all of the people that wanted something other than apple just because it's not cool for them to like apple finally had something to buy or switch to. Now Android is on par with iOS, so there really is no reason for the non-apple people to switch to Windows 8. At least not enough to make it a overly successful venture. Had they "surfaced" the same time as Android, there might actually be a real 3 way brawl for marketshare.

It's so good that most Android devices running out there are still running Gingerbread.

 

[swingerofbirch]

The iPad was successful because right off the bat it had a large app store thanks to the iPhone. You can have the best piece of hardware ever but without software to back it up is there any real potential in a device? The problem with the surface is that it could have used the advantages of having windows applications but the rt doesn't really have that advantage at all and the pro is expensive, has horrible battery life, and seems to get hot easily.

I'm not sure. Apple has interrupted spaces before when it was the underdog without a software catalog. The original iPhone had no third-party apps at all. Your explanation definitely works, though. I agree that Apple had inertia. People were familiar with the interface, all the iPhone apps could work with it, and developers were excited to write for it.

I still never got the iPad. To me the missing piece was text-entry. The iPod had the scroll wheel to get through thousands of songs. The Mac had the mouse. The iPhone had touch-typing which was only ever intended for short messages. I'm not saying there's a magical solution to tex-entry on the iPad. I have no idea what that magical solution would be actually. But I'm saying that before the iPad was introduced, I wondered whether Apple would pull a rabbit out of its hat like it did with the mouse and scroll wheel, and it didn't. It was as many have said, a bigger iPhone/iPod touch, which a lot of people love.

I do think it's very likely, though, that if I had an iPad and used it, I might get so I used it a lot. I've never bought one, though. Now if someone gave one to me! Lol . . . the thing is that I am cheap. I buy things I need. I need a computer. And I like my computer. I'm not even sure I want an iPad. But if I had one and got addicted, as people seem to, maybe I'd come to want one. I guess there were possibly a lot of people who never really liked computers who now like the iPad. They can do their Scrabble and e-mail, etc., and it's very organic compared to a a laptop. I've been using traditional computers since I was a kid, though, so I'm not sure if there will be a tipping point where I would ever get a tablet.

And strangely enough, the people I know who have iPads and love them, did get them for free! Both are school teachers who got them through their schools. Maybe it's one of those things where you have no desire until you use it, but why would you ever use it to begin with if there's no desire?

I get that I am not typical of most people, though.

 

[HoopTrundler]

Here is the problem.

IT IS WINDOWS.

Every single person I know has at least one major horror story using a windows computer. Why would they ever want to spend that much on a tablet version of it?

The reputation to windows with consumers is.. well a crappy experience.

Does not matter how many BILLIONS of dollars is spent by microsoft, that reputation of Windows is forever it's legacy.

That is why I and many others, will never go back.

FYI, I still have to use windows on a daily basis, and it is has not gotten better since I switched

That's all anecdotal evidence... I know many people who have had problems with OSX. I've been using Windows all my life, and I've never had a major issue with it. And Windows 7 actually is a huge improvement over a lot of their older iterations, at least in my experience.

 

[Tysknaden]

Ballmer...

- should go from door to door for selling vacuum cleaners. He would be successful - by intimidating people into buying while jumping around in the garden and doing some crazy shouting.