Microsoft vs. Apple: Can Microsoft Compete in the Tablet Market?
Remember when you were a kid and the neighbor down the street got something really cool, and you didn’t have one? You felt as though life was incomplete until you had one, too. That’s the position Steve Ballmer, CEO of Microsoft, finds himself in now. Apple’s iPad has sold over 3.3 million units, and Microsoft has nothing similar on the market to offer consumers.
With analysts predicting that tablet space will be one of the fastest-growing tech segments this decade, alongside smartphones, Microsoft is definitely under the wire. Ballmer himself admits the urgent need for Microsoft to produce a tablet, and told financial analysts at the recent annual company meeting that developing tablet software is “job one”. Microsoft is confident in their company’s future in the tablet market, and even went as far as to take a stab at the iPad by pointing out that the Microsoft tablet will be able to print documents.
At this point, however, I think print compatibility should be the least of Ballmer’s concerns. Microsoft will face numerous issues adapting Windows 7 for tablets. Apple’s iOS was designed from the ground up with touch screen devices in mind, while Windows 7 was conceived as an OS for a keyboard-and-mouse equipped PC. Don’t get me wrong, Windows 7 is a vast improvement over the disaster that was Vista, but given Microsoft’s recent track record (think…Kin) I don’t see an outstanding Windows 7 tablet debuting in the near future.
Even Microsoft can’t give an estimate as to when we can expect to see a tablet from their company. Ballmer stated that the tablet will be ready “as soon as they’re ready”, and “it ain’t a long time from now.” Really, Ballmer? That’s not a very convincing, nor eloquent way, to build hype for a product that you’re convinced will “sell like crazy”. Ballmer has a good reason for the delay, however. He claims that Microsoft must take its time to get the product just right. I take that as a subtle indication that Microsoft is nowhere close to producing a tablet. Even the new Intel processor, “Oak Trail”, isn’t expected to hit the production line until next year. At that point, will it be an “Oak Trail” to nowhere?
You don’t have to take my word for it. Top market analysts have declared that, based on Ballmer’s own outline strategy for the tablet, it’s apparent that Microsoft has no set strategy. Ouch. That’s not what you want to hear when your company is trying so hard to put up a united front of confidence in an upcoming product. If the tablet market were a body of water, someone would have to take pity and toss Microsoft a life-preserver. Microsoft is in a sticky situation. The company can’t afford to produce another flop of a product, but how much time can they afford to lose before breaking into the tablet market? At the rate iPads are selling, there may be no interested consumers left by the time Microsoft gets around to producing its tablet.
