Post date: Jun 19, 2012 10:39:8 PM
After the hype of its Surface tablet launch event- Microsoft got a harsh dose of reality as its iPad rival got the cold shoulder.
USA-MICROSOFT TABLET - This was the line outside the Microsoft's Surface tablet event. And this is a line at an iPad launch event. And therein lies the problem.
Jefferies Peter Misek:
PETER MISEK, MANAGING DIRECTOR, JEFFERIES SAYING:"We think it's going to struggle. We don't see this as a competitor to the iPad. We think the price is wrong, we think the ecosystem is too small. We think the consumer momentum is too small. A lot of the details aren't set appropriately and frankly they are a little bit late to the party. "
Microsoft will have two versions of the Surface tablet; a decision that has been called confusing. And Microsoft has to convince less-than-enthusiastic developers to get on board- when Apple's iOS has been so profitable.
Microsoft indicated the price would be close to the iPad's- around $599. Misek says they need come to terms with a price point closer to $200 bucks or it just won't sell.
PETER MISEK, MANAGING DIRECTOR, JEFFERIES SAYING:
"Admit that you can't be at a premium price or the same price as the iPad and that's we think a huge ego hit. That's really tough for anyone to swallow"
Apple has crushed the competition - leaving big names like the HP Touchpad, the Blackberry Playbook and the Motorola Xoom in the dust. Microsoft runs a high risk of joining them.
So why is Microsoft even bothering?
S&P Capital IQ's Angelo Zino:
ANGELO ZINO, ANALYST, S&P CAPITAL IQ SAYING:
"The PC industry looks like it's in a secular decline and that's going to be offset with a substantial growth in the mobile space so Microsoft needs this to work. They need this to kind of be in this space."
Failure here could be costly beyond the actual tablet. In a major strategic shift- they are making their own device- in competition with their very own customers.
Mashable's Lance Ulanoff:
LANCE ULANOFF, EDITOR IN CHIEF, MASHABLE SAYING:
"Are you going to buy Lenovo? Are you going to buy Dell? Are you going to buy HP and Asus and Acer or Microsoft where it's a whole ecosystem which is the Apple play book?"
Microsoft is hoping integrating the device with its new Windows 8 operating system will cement an Apple-like ecosystem. But again- no real details have yet surfaced.
Bobbi Rebell, Reuters.