It goes without saying that for a technology company so at home with software like Microsoft hardware always was a double-edged sword. Redmond’s hardware partners expressed concerns early on about seeing the technology giant invest so much money into its own devices.
Microsoft has announced that it is working to bring Surface RT into more stores around the world, and thereby expanding international availability of that tablet, that so far has been a few notches less successful than what the company hoped to see.
And analysts are starting to believe that Microsoft is not doing the right thing being this aggressive with the Surface RT. Jack Gold, principal analyst for J. Gold Associates thinks that Windows RT partners (few as they may be) will see this as a clear and present threat.
He was quoted by ITProPortal as saying:
“They are hoping that opening the channel wider will mean higher volumes, and perhaps less need, or even no need for further price cuts. However, I’m not sure that simply widening the channel will help sell that many more units.
And this move can’t make the OEMs trying to sell Windows tablets very happy. Of course, there are virtually no OEMs selling RT anymore, so it’s really about how aggressive Microsoft will compete against the OEMs with Windows Pro systems on the market.”
This is another in the long line of insights from analysts and market watches that have followed since Microsoft’s financial results for the second quarter of the year, whereby the company announced that it was turning to a $900 million write-down to adjust inventories because of unsold tablets.
At the same time, the company is paving the way for the second generation Surface slates which, by offering notable discounts in order to clear out inventories.
Sources familiar with the matte have revealed that these new and improved Surface tablets are on track to be released by the end of the year. Microsoft has confirmed that updates for both the Surface RT and the Pro are in the pipeline, but stopped shy of providing further specifics.
All Comments
Why shouldn’t they double-down on their efforts with their own devices. Their hardware partners, outside Nokia, obviously aren’t putting in the work to get their devices in the hands of consumers. Nokia is the only company that has shown themselves to be a true partner, and when their tablet is released, they will probably be the only ones other than Microsoft putting real efforts into pushing the product.
Their hardware partners need a kick in the butt for many years.