Surface Sales Terrible

[sontin]

These are the same thing, right?

I do think RT is a generation or two of chips away from being much more interesting. The hardware is going to be developed anyway unless Google gives up, and all new Win8 apps can be compiled for it as well (I think), so...

WinRT is a get go product - like the iPad 1 and Honeycomb with Tegra 2.
The next generation with Tegra 4 and co will be a lot faster, smoother and better.

 

[Bateluer]

WinRT is a get go product - like the iPad 1 and Honeycomb with Tegra 2.
The next generation with Tegra 4 and co will be a lot faster, smoother and better.

Speed and UI fluidity is not Windows 8/RTs problem. Its that the OS itself has an inherently shitty UI. On the desktop side, its cumbersome, unwieldy, kills productivity and looks like an ironed ass. On the tablet side, its at least usable. But, there's nothing to do with the RT tablet because of the lack of apps. Lack of sales, means lack of apps, the two compound the other. Few buy because there's no apps, few devs make apps because no one buys.

 

[scaramoosh]

I'd get a Surface Pro on contract if it was 4G and cost no more than an iPad on contract.

No interest in an RT or tablet in general though, I just think a Surface pro could replace my Laptop and it on contract with 4G would be perfect.

 

[Puddle Jumper]

Microsoft needs to stick AMD's Hondo in the Surface RT chassis and keep the price the same, I would seriously consider buying that.

 

[Roland00Address]

What was the purpose of an ARM version of Windows 8 again? On release day I played with a full windows 8 tablet on an atom processor by Samsung and thought to myself "If i can get this, why should I even bother with RT?"

In theory
1) Cheaper prices for in theory atom is more expensive than tegra 3
2) Free version of office for the user
3) Can't get viruses (or should I say extremely hard to get viruses)

In actuality
1) Tegra is cheaper to produce than atom, but can't be priced much cheaper from a 1st party designer without pissing off the third party designers. Furthermore a third party designer doesn't want to explore the below $500 windows market for they are afraid of a race to the bottom. They rather have an atom processor in their if they can gurantee the price is at least $500 or over so they can keep some margin.
2a) The free version of office has less features than the real version of office such as it can't do macros.
2b) Most sales people do not know that windows rt come with office, they assume since all the other computers do not come with office that rt is the same.
2c) Furthermore you can't run any other old software besides office on rt but could on intel atom tablets.
3) Is a really good point, but how many sales people communicate this fact to the user. Most people assume that if it windows than you need antivirus.

---------------------------------

Bring the price down to $400 and advertise that it comes with microsoft office and can sync with your desktop and laptop computers real easy with office 365 and watch it sell much more.

 

[Ventanni]

I used one and thought it was really nice, but there's no way I'd pay $500 for one...an rt that is.

 

[lopri]

WinRT is a get go product - like the iPad 1 and Honeycomb with Tegra 2.
The next generation with Tegra 4 and co will be a lot faster, smoother and better.

I don't think RT's problem is hardware. Well, it is to an extent, but things wouldn't change if current incarnation of RT were running on Tegra 4 or whatever super chip.

 

[Drsignguy]

I'd get a Surface Pro on contract if it was 4G and cost no more than an iPad on contract.

No interest in an RT or tablet in general though, I just think a Surface pro could replace my Laptop and it on contract with 4G would be perfect.

I thought about the same thing even though I have the Pro. Would be that much better if it had 4G. I use the Pro all the time and its a much better device than my laptop. Easier to carry, modern and pretty easy to use. It has great WiFi but hell, with 4G, that would be perfect, Except for one major drawback, battery life. Its borderline now and would be crushed if it had 4G.Shall I wish in one hand and sh!t in the other to see which one fills up faster?

 

[Imp]

Good thing MSFT has so much cash to burn. They can pull an Xbox, burn through a few billion just to establish a brand.

I'm interested in the Surface Pro, RT does seem pointless. But ya, Pro is way too expensive. I can get a 12" laptop for less... and it comes with a built-in keyboard.

 

[Ravynmagi]

I do think RT is a generation or two of chips away from being much more interesting. The hardware is going to be developed anyway unless Google gives up, and all new Win8 apps can be compiled for it as well (I think), so...

I don't think Windows RT will be around long. It'll go the way of the Zune, Kin, Bob, and other bad Microsoft ideas.

There are not that many Windows RT products and I don't think we'll see many more.

 

[Ravynmagi]

I don't think Microsoft ever wanted the Surface to be a success. They just wanted to get a product out there they could endorse and draw attention to the new Windows tablet experience. While at the same time trying not to compete with their own partners.

We can only hope Acer, Asus, Samsung, and Lenovo somehow actually manage to sell a few more tablets than Microsoft has so far. Because it doesn't seem like things have started off all that great.

 

[StrangerGuy]

I don't think Microsoft ever wanted the Surface to be a success. They just wanted to get a product out there they could endorse and draw attention to the new Windows tablet experience. While at the same time trying not to compete with their own partners.

We can only hope Acer, Asus, Samsung, and Lenovo somehow actually manage to sell a few more tablets than Microsoft has so far. Because it doesn't seem like things have started off all that great.

MS and Intel has been burning bridges with the usual PC OEMs lately with their own finished products like Surface and shoving down things like Win 8 and Ultrabooks down their throats. Expect those to feel even less love for both...I suspect all of them are going full steam ahead with ARMdroid now if not already as a backup plan.

 

[dagamer34]

I don't think Windows RT will be around long. It'll go the way of the Zune, Kin, Bob, and other bad Microsoft ideas.

There are not that many Windows RT products and I don't think we'll see many more.

Without Windows RT, prices on Intel Atom chips go unchecked. Plus, you need to look 2-3 years out when ARM hardware will legitimately compete in every space Intel is dominant in. There's no way Windows RT just disappears because of poor sales. Besides, if Microsoft were to flip the switch and allow trusted .NET apps to work, along with significantly faster ARM SoCs like the Snapdragon 800 and Exynos 5 Octa, most of people's concerns go away.

My key point here is that Intel was selling their Atom chips for $50 and because of competition from Windows RT, they had to drop the prices of Clover Trail down to $20 or so. Without RT, that goes away.

I don't think Microsoft ever wanted the Surface to be a success. They just wanted to get a product out there they could endorse and draw attention to the new Windows tablet experience. While at the same time trying not to compete with their own partners.

We can only hope Acer, Asus, Samsung, and Lenovo somehow actually manage to sell a few more tablets than Microsoft has so far. Because it doesn't seem like things have started off all that great.

I don't think that's true. You don't spend 3 years working on a pair of products and pray for failure (seriously, who would do that?). Microsoft's wish to not piss off partners is forcing them to speak in tame language, when it's obvious they wish they had sold millions. And can you imagine how abysmal the Windows 8 launch would have been without Surface RT or Surface Pro 3 months later? To this day, I still haven't seen a tablet not built by Microsoft even beginning to approach the same build quality (and it's their first freaking PC).

I wish they would take off the kid gloves and offer a full line of products and just damn their partners to hell. The Windows ecosystem got sick in the first place because of their partner's laziness, and if they do not put the full force of their $60 billion cash pile into ensuring the future success of their platform, it won't matter what their partners will be doing because everyone will be using a free operating system from GOOOGLE. :whiste:

 

[dagamer34]

MS and Intel has been burning bridges with the usual PC OEMs lately with their own finished products like Surface and shoving down things like Win 8 and Ultrabooks down their throats. Expect those to feel even less love for both...I suspect all of them are going full steam ahead with ARMdroid now if not already as a backup plan.

I'm pretty sure every PC OEM wishes Ultrabooks took off because a) free marketing money from Intel and b) the laptops bring up the average selling price of their products. Perhaps they do not like the specific requirements that needed for something to be called an Ultrabook, but when you look at them, I don't see anything I as an end consumer wouldn't want. See for yourself: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultrabook#Specifications

 

[s44]

The Windows ecosystem got sick in the first place because of their partner's laziness

Say what?

The "Windows ecosystem" (by which I assume you mean the profits companies make from Windows-related products -- the actual *things you can do with Windows* is still infinite) has been ailing because no one (who's not a gamer) has needed an upgrade in five years (coinciding with global crap economy), and because Windows has been too heavy and Intel-bound to profit from new lighter uses and form factors.

 

[dagamer34]

Say what?

The "Windows ecosystem" (by which I assume you mean the profits companies make from Windows-related products -- the actual *things you can do with Windows* is still infinite) has been ailing because no one (who's not a gamer) has needed an upgrade in five years (coinciding with global crap economy), and because Windows has been too heavy and Intel-bound to profit from new lighter uses and form factors.

I probably should have said the PC OEM business.

 

[Tsavo]

I don't think RT's problem is hardware. Well, it is to an extent, but things wouldn't change if current incarnation of RT were running on Tegra 4 or whatever super chip.

The RT's problem begins when you hit the power button.

 

[finbarqs]

Oh well, it was fun messing around with the Surface Pro for a month's time. My biggest problem is (and it happened to an earlier poster) I don't use it very often, and it sits and collects dusts... too expensive to be a dust collector. So I returned my 128GB surface pro.

Maybe with data, haswell, thinner, wintab drivers, surface pro will excel. But right now, it's "almost" there.

 

[MrX8503]

Saw this from a mile away. Maybe the next gen will be better.

 

[Stone Rain]

The Surface, and a large amount of Windows 8 in general, is unfortunately MS acting like it's still 2003; trying to get business lock-in on their hardware and software (just try removing the OS from a new Win8 laptop!).

I've used the Surface, it would be a mediocre device if it were $150 cheaper. As it is, it's not a good proposition for a person, or a business. I doubt MS will make another generation of them, really. They simply aren't worth it, unless they are totally redesigned.

Now, a funny idea I have: MS needs to actually make the giantass table-computer they showed in the original Surface ads last year; but make it thin, and not fully table sized. There's scientific and educational agencies that would pay money for a 50"+ tablet computer, perhaps one with a flexible OLED display.

 

[Dari]

Turrible!!! Just turrible!!!

 

[Genx87]

Waiting to hear from those who blew fanfare and gushed over the greatness of Surface franchise. Won't hold my breadth, though.

(And to be frank, I'm surprised that it sold a million units)

I am also surprised they have "sold" this many tablets. The question that needs to be asked is what does "sold" mean?

 

[Genx87]

This thing some issues to overcome.

New OS UI. People just dont like it.
RT has the battery life but not the apps.
Pro has the apps but crap battery life for a tablet.
Price tag for both is laughably high.

MS continues to whiff in the mobile market.

 

[Red Storm]

Not surprised. It's their first foray into the market so there's that, as well as the other issues with Windows in general.

I bought my mom an RT Surface for her birthday. We returned it in a few days after she said she just didn't like it and couldn't get used to it.

This thing some issues to overcome.

New OS UI. People just dont like it.
RT has the battery life but not the apps.
Pro has the apps but crap battery life for a tablet.
Price tag for both is laughably high.

MS continues to whiff in the mobile market.

Surface Pro can run all the Windows Applications*!




*That are all designed and developed around a keyboard and mouse interface. Have fun using them with a touch screen.

 

[BladeVenom]

I don't think Microsoft ever wanted the Surface to be a success.

They wouldn't have put $400 million into its advertising budget trying to sell them, if they didn't want it to be a success.