Although the Surface looks like an elegant device, Forrester Research analyst Sarah Rotman Epps criticized Microsoft for not using attention focused on the company’s June 18 announcement to highlight some of the reasons that it might be a better option than the iPad.
For instance, she thinks Microsoft could have shown how its video calling service, Skype, will work on Surface or how people might be able to use its motion-control sensor, Kinect, on the tablet.
“I am excited about this product, but it felt like Microsoft was pulling punches with this announcement,” Epps said. “Hardware is only part of the dynamic. They need to explain how Microsoft manufacturing this device will change people’s experience with a tablet.”
Microsoft also might be limiting the Surface’s impact by limiting the initial sales to its own stores and online channels.
The foray into hardware is unusual for Microsoft, which relies on manufacturers like Hewlett-Packard and Dell, and could cause friction. Ballmer said the company, at times, needs to push hardware makers “in ways even that the makers of the hardware had yet to envision.”
He said the tablet was as essential to the upcoming Windows 8 operating system as the mouse was for the first version of Windows.
“Much like Windows 1.0 needed the mouse to complete the experience, we wanted to give Windows 8 its own companion hardware innovation,” he said.
The more hands-on approach might upset some manufacturers. Nomura analyst Rick Sherlund said Microsoft will have to assure longtime manufacturing partners that it is competing fairly with them.
“Microsoft will need to assure them it’s a level playing field,” he said. “I think this sets a high bar for their partners.”
Microsoft has been making software for tablets since 2002, when it shipped the Windows XP Tablet PC Edition. Many big PC makers produced tablets that ran the software, but they were never big sellers. The tablets were based on PC technology and were heavy, with short battery lives.
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