Ah, it only seem like yesterday Steve Ballmer was laughing at Apple and the iphone. Nowadays everyone is laughing at Microsoft whenever they release a product like the Surface.
"I like our strategy, I like it a lot". Priceless!
Omg! Are you sure that's right! 1.5 million sold, I'm truly astounded by that number. It seems Incredible to me that they actually sold that many. They must not be including the returned in their numbers. After having using it for 1 weekend I took it back. So I guess the number should read 1,499,999 sold.
Anybody who couldn't see from a mile away that this ridiculous Surface thingy was going to flop is incapable of objective and rational thought. It's the same story over and over again. Some new device gets announced, will this finally be the iPad killer? The media hypes it, various clueless people fawn over it and compare it to the iPad, while certain rational people on this forum declares it to be DOA. And how does the story end each and every time?
The same people who fell for this Surface tablet and the people who hyped it up will be the same people who will be hyping the next "iPad Killer" when that comes along. And just like now, they'll be just as wrong and just as clueless next time also. A half tablet, that is worse than a tablet and a half laptop that is worse than a laptop is a good idea? And it comes with a kickstand and runs Windows? Are you kidding me? GTFOH.
yes the RT was obviously DOA from day 1. the Zune all over again. maybe there were a million hard-core MS fans that bought one, but that's it. if they want to sell the rest they will have to do a price-slash dump like HP did. it has no future. only question is how long MS will pretend it does before pulling the plug.
and the Pro ... Gates has been trying to shove "full" Windows onto a tablet for 10 years. is this try #4? it will never work. handheld products are fundamentally different - where simple is best, and Windows will never ever be simple. i bet all 400k were sold to MS IT geeks, and so that's about the end of that too. but as long as Gates is pulling strings at MS, they will never give up trying to jam it anyway. he'll dump his BFF Ballmer if he has to, but he'll never let go of the "Windows Everywhere" fantasy.
"Company representatives have revealed previously that the company will keep trying to market the tablets until they find a winning strategy."
Translation? "We'll try and sell these damn things if IT KILLS US!"
That shows in our local major shopping mall. MS had a hallway booth there for several weeks after the Surface release, within sight of a Samsung store in the middle of the mall.
Then the MS Surface booth disappeared, for several weeks. Now I see it's back, but not nearly as busy as before.
Seems possible customers have lost Surface interest.
As for a 7" Surface, no way as far as I'm concerned.
For serious web browsing and other computer like uses, IMO 10" is the sweet spot.
Surprisingly good numbers for MS if true. I was expecting 1/3 of that number at best. I'd certainly put the Surface ahead of any Android tablet out there, not that that's saying much.
"I like our strategy, I like it a lot". Priceless!
Only way Micro stupid will be relevant is to keep Ballmer then do everything the opposite of what he says. How does someone so obviously dumb get in charge?
I have no love for MS, but maybe Apple can help them out as both have a common enemy in google, Maybe let them see some iOS code accidentally.
On a more serious note, if samdung sticks with google then perhaps Apple could team up with HTC, who have made peace with Apple and make good quality phones. They lack the marketing clout of samdung, perhaps Apple could do something in that space. A silly thought but interesting.
1.1 million RT units over almost 6 months? Roughly 200k per month, vs nearly 8 million iPad a month.
Yes, even the word "flop" would be a gross understatement.
Let's do it a different way. 1.1 M RT units at an average price of $500 is $550 M. Add in 400,00 Pro units at $1000 and you're at a total revenue for the two products of around $1 B.
Average PC net income is around 2%, so even if they made the average margin (which is extremely unlikely for a startup market), they made $20 M. Gross margins are around 20% in that industry, so they had gross margin of $200 M (again, assuming that they had no startup costs and were just as efficient as other PC makers right out of the box).
In the end, it was a bad strategy. PC sales are down. Microsoft has no PC manufacturing experience. They have no distribution except online and the tiny number of Microsoft stores and kiosks. Since this is absolutely the kind of product that people want to see in person before buying, failure to get it into Best Buy, Staples, Walmart, etc is a fatal mistake. And turning all of your loyal PC OEMs into enemies is an equally big mistake. Of course, I've been saying this all along, but Microsoft still suffers from the delusion that people love them and their products and has no concept of how the world really works.
Comments
Quote:
Originally Posted by TonyLee
Ah, it only seem like yesterday Steve Ballmer was laughing at Apple and the iphone. Nowadays everyone is laughing at Microsoft whenever they release a product like the Surface.
"I like our strategy, I like it a lot". Priceless!
Anybody who couldn't see from a mile away that this ridiculous Surface thingy was going to flop is incapable of objective and rational thought. It's the same story over and over again. Some new device gets announced, will this finally be the iPad killer? The media hypes it, various clueless people fawn over it and compare it to the iPad, while certain rational people on this forum declares it to be DOA. And how does the story end each and every time?
The same people who fell for this Surface tablet and the people who hyped it up will be the same people who will be hyping the next "iPad Killer" when that comes along. And just like now, they'll be just as wrong and just as clueless next time also. A half tablet, that is worse than a tablet and a half laptop that is worse than a laptop is a good idea? And it comes with a kickstand and runs Windows? Are you kidding me?
yes the RT was obviously DOA from day 1. the Zune all over again. maybe there were a million hard-core MS fans that bought one, but that's it. if they want to sell the rest they will have to do a price-slash dump like HP did. it has no future. only question is how long MS will pretend it does before pulling the plug.
and the Pro ... Gates has been trying to shove "full" Windows onto a tablet for 10 years. is this try #4? it will never work. handheld products are fundamentally different - where simple is best, and Windows will never ever be simple. i bet all 400k were sold to MS IT geeks, and so that's about the end of that too. but as long as Gates is pulling strings at MS, they will never give up trying to jam it anyway. he'll dump his BFF Ballmer if he has to, but he'll never let go of the "Windows Everywhere" fantasy.
train wreck.
Apple has a hobby project. MS has a hobbled project.
Dead in the water.
Next.
1.1 million RT units over almost 6 months? Roughly 200k per month, vs nearly 8 million iPad a month.
Yes, even the word "flop" would be a gross understatement.
Quote:
Originally Posted by tdmelvin
"Company representatives have revealed previously that the company will keep trying to market the tablets until they find a winning strategy."
Translation? "We'll try and sell these damn things if IT KILLS US!"
That shows in our local major shopping mall. MS had a hallway booth there for several weeks after the Surface release, within sight of a Samsung store in the middle of the mall.
Then the MS Surface booth disappeared, for several weeks. Now I see it's back, but not nearly as busy as before.
Seems possible customers have lost Surface interest.
As for a 7" Surface, no way as far as I'm concerned.
For serious web browsing and other computer like uses, IMO 10" is the sweet spot.
For book reading I prefer 7".
Originally Posted by tribalogical
In other words, a complete failure.
1.1 million RT units over almost 6 months? Roughly 200k per month, vs nearly 8 million iPad a month.
Yes, even the word "flop" would be a gross understatement.
When your product's only saving grace is "At least it did better than the Kin"…
With barely any sold and with more than million unsold of a very low goal it appears MS took a page from the RiM Playbook.
Surprisingly good numbers for MS if true. I was expecting 1/3 of that number at best. I'd certainly put the Surface ahead of any Android tablet out there, not that that's saying much.
Lol!!
Only way Micro stupid will be relevant is to keep Ballmer then do everything the opposite of what he says. How does someone so obviously dumb get in charge?
This is, and has been for a while, Microsoft's strategy...
[IMG]http://forums.appleinsider.com/content/type/61/id/22105/width/200/height/400[/IMG]
With the surface, Microsoft re-invented the wheel.
And they made it square.
Maybe let them see some iOS code accidentally.
On a more serious note, if samdung sticks with google then perhaps Apple could team up with HTC, who have made peace with Apple and make good quality phones. They lack the marketing clout of samdung, perhaps Apple could do something in that space. A silly thought but interesting.
Let's do it a different way. 1.1 M RT units at an average price of $500 is $550 M. Add in 400,00 Pro units at $1000 and you're at a total revenue for the two products of around $1 B.
Average PC net income is around 2%, so even if they made the average margin (which is extremely unlikely for a startup market), they made $20 M. Gross margins are around 20% in that industry, so they had gross margin of $200 M (again, assuming that they had no startup costs and were just as efficient as other PC makers right out of the box).
Now, think about the marketing expense. One report says that the Windows 8 marketing budget was $1 B. (http://www.informationweek.com/byte/personal-tech/tablets/for-microsoft-surface-modest-sales-are-g/240144101) I have no idea how much of that was due to Surface, but based on the TV advertising I've seen, it was a pretty high percentage. But even if you assume that it's only 20%, their advertising budget wiped out the entire gross margin for the product (even making the most favorable assumptions). And one report suggests that the budget will actually be closer to $2 B (http://news.softpedia.com/news/Microsoft-to-Spend-More-than-1-Billion-773M-on-Windows-8-Advertising-Campaign-298955.shtml).
In the end, it was a bad strategy. PC sales are down. Microsoft has no PC manufacturing experience. They have no distribution except online and the tiny number of Microsoft stores and kiosks. Since this is absolutely the kind of product that people want to see in person before buying, failure to get it into Best Buy, Staples, Walmart, etc is a fatal mistake. And turning all of your loyal PC OEMs into enemies is an equally big mistake. Of course, I've been saying this all along, but Microsoft still suffers from the delusion that people love them and their products and has no concept of how the world really works.