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Microsoft touts Surface success, claims more MacBook switchers than ever

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Calling the new MacBook Pro with Touch Bar a "disappointment," Microsoft claims that more users than ever are switching from Apple's MacBook lineup to its competing Surface lineup of hybrid laptop tablets.

In a new blog post, the Redmond, Wash., company claimed more people are switching from Macs to the Microsoft Surface than ever before. No actual sales figures were shared, however.

"Our trade-in program for MacBooks was our best ever, and the combination of excitement for the innovation of Surface coupled with the disappointment of the new MacBook Pro — especially among professionals — is leading more and more people to make the switch to Surface," wrote Brian Hall, corporate vice president for Microsoft Devices Marketing.

The Windows maker claims that its Surface lineup —  including the Surface Book and Surface Studio —  is having its best holiday season ever.

For years, Apple boasted of taking market share away from the larger Windows platform, well before Microsoft stepped into the hardware business with its own lineup of tablets and laptops. Now, Apple mostly focuses on switchers from the Android platform to iPhone, reflecting the fact that the iPhone is its major revenue driver.

Microsoft expanded its Surface lineup in October with the new Surface Studio, an all-in-one desktop PC that takes on Apple's iMac with a unique adjustable touchscreen.

For its part, Apple claims that the new MacBook Pro is anything but a disappointment at launch. Last month, marketing chief Phil Schiller claimed that initial orders for the new Touch Bar-equipped models exceeded any other pro model that came before.

"We are proud to tell you that so far our online store has had more orders for the new MacBook Pro than any other pro notebook before," added Schiller. "So there certainly are a lot of people as excited as we are about it."

86 Comments

spice-boy 9 Years · 1454 comments

I'm not worried for Apple after all xmas sales of the Apple Watch 2 will more than make up for lower MacBook sales. 

5 Likes · 0 Dislikes
genovelle 17 Years · 1481 comments

So basically. If they had 15 people switch last year and now they have 20, the can say more and more people. The problem is they can't disclose the numbers because you would just laugh at them. Report the actual sales if you want to show how much better people like your product. 

26 Likes · 0 Dislikes
Metriacanthosaurus 9 Years · 880 comments

genovelle said:
So basically. If they had 15 people switch last year and now they have 20, the can say more and more people. The problem is they can't disclose the numbers because you would just laugh at them. Report the actual sales if you want to show how much better people like your product. 

Exactly this. 

Report sales numbers if you want us to believe any of it, Microsoft. All we actually know about these two products is: Apple has seen more launch orders for the new MBP than any other computer they've ever released, and Microsoft has written off the last 3 generations of Surface at a loss.

Not buying it. Literally or figuratively.

11 Likes · 0 Dislikes
spielbrot 9 Years · 2 comments

Well, it wont take more than a few MacBook persons to make that headline true, I guess. Notice, they say MacBook, not MacBook Pro.

3 Likes · 0 Dislikes
curt12 10 Years · 41 comments

Did AI use a super-blurry photo of the MBP to accentuate the effect?

2 Likes · 0 Dislikes