Microsoft held a media event on Monday to take the wraps off its Surface Windows 8 tablet, which will come in both ARM and Intel versions. CEO Steve Ballmer said in an interview after the event that Microsoft's PC partners knew about Microsoft's announcement in advance.
A new report from Reuters claims that, according to industry sources, Microsoft's closest partners were provided with only vague details just three days before the unveiling. Insiders said Windows boss Steven Sinofsky made some calls to partners last Friday but didn't provide the name or specifications of the Surface.
"As such, Microsoft's main partners remained "in wait-and-see" mode and had to monitor the news for details, one of the sources said," the report noted.
Some of the Windows maker's largest vendors appear to have been left out of the loop. Sources from Acer and Asus told the publication that the news conference was the "first they had heard" of the project.
No senior executives heard about the news last week," an Acer executive said, noting that the company is still seeking details. "We're quite surprised."
Though Microsoft went out of its way to highlight its long history of hardware innovation with peripherals such as the mouse, the company has largely been content to build software and let vendors worry about the hardware.
Early indications suggest that Microsoft's decision to build its own tablet could damage its relationships with partners. One industry source said that partners who weren't informed of Microsoft's plans ahead of time are now feeling a "sense of betrayal."
"This has always been a point of contention between OEMs and Microsoft — Microsoft getting into the hardware space," said another tipster.
Ovum analyst Jan Dawson told Reuters Microsoft's Surface tablet represents a "huge vote of no confidence" in its OEM partners and added that those partners are right to "feel slighted."
Some partners declined to comment for the article, although PC makers Dell and Lenovo both voiced continued commitment to Microsoft as a valuable partner. However, an executive at a Chinese handset maker spoke off the record to say that Microsoft should "leave its partners to make the hardware."
Beyond mitigating any backlash from this week's preview, Microsoft may have a delicate situation on its hands when it goes to price its tablets in coming months. One analyst said on Tuesday that Microsoft will need to undercut the iPad's price to stand a chance of competing with Apple, but doing so could infuriate other tablet makers whose costs are higher because they must pay Windows licensing fees to Microsoft.
If a recent report is to be believed, hardware makers may have more to complain about in coming weeks. The Wall Street Journal on Tuesday corroborated rumors that Google will soon release a Android tablet that it reportedly co-developed with Asus.
176 Comments
[QUOTE]although PC makers Dell and Lenovo both voiced continued commitment to Microsoft as a valuable partner.[/QUOTE] What are they going to do?! Develop their own desktop OS? Not going to happen. MS can start their own PC hardware and no one can do anything. All they can do is pay to get Window on their PCs and accept it.
I watched the keynote video. It was incredibly sad, and pathetic. There were constant veiled references to the iPad, I laughed when Ballmer talked about the innovation Microsloth has done in the past few years. There was virtually no actual demonstrations of the surface itself. They spent almost all the time talking about the physical characteristics of the unit. "It is only _____ mm wide!" "It has a professionally designed kick stand that goes away." "Look at this venting."
They just don't get it. They still think in terms of a desktop unit. The thing (according to M$), is a small PC with a keyboard. And what a keyboard! Holy copy of the Apple smart cover! I couldn't believe it. If I want a tablet, I don't want to type on a stupid pliable keyboard. Why the hell would I want a trackpad, when the entire glass surface is trackpad!
The video about how they built it. "Wow, this is really hard!" It seemed to convey the image that they had never designed any hardware before.
The entire setting seemed contrived too. How many people were there, 20, 30? It didn't appear to be that many more than that, and it was obvious there were ringers in the audience. The name of the case, vapourware! Too funny!
No release date, no real details. It was just so sad.
This reminds me of when Google decided to buy Motorola. At least they called all of their hardware partners before breaking the story to the press, in order to coordinate the eerily-similar-sounding press releases from all of its hardware partners.
Sounds like Microsoft didn't bother to call some of their OEMs. Ouch indeed.
And c'mon, what's Michael Dell going to do? Bite the hand that feeds?
The PC platform, as we know it, is dead.
Chickens coming home to roost at Redmond.
It's almost impossible to compete with Apple on price unless you cut a lot of corners - Apple buys very right and in large quantity and far enough ahead to buy up the bulk of production of the best manufacturers of the strategic components. Everyone else buys short production runs. Even Microsoft hasn't placed their orders for components for products they want to ship yet this year. I can't see how they intend to fulfill any large need, if it should come about?
Meanwhile Apple is stockpiling components for their expected September iPhone release. Also, circa September, Apple will be announcing 200 software additions to the iPad, this is like announcing a new iPad (which may get a price drop, for extra effect). Apple could totally break up the Windows 8 Surface by drowning it out with iPad, iPhone, and new OS attention.
Meanwhile the Windows and Android OEMs are sharpening their knives... and not for Apple.