News Microsoft Surface 2 with LTE nearing launch

Aah yes, the second edition to the tablet practically no one gave a flying **** about.

 

Is it just me that thinks Microsoft is showing up to the party late these days, sure they are giving consumers what they want, it just seems to be ages after the product hits the market.

 

Yup, nobody gives a ****.

Moreover:

With a Surface you don't have that problem. OS supports .zip; Office is on board and you can USB, Bluetooth or WiFi interface with any peripheral going. Download anything, print anywhere. Business types with iPads are starting to find that out too. Microsoft should be advertising that angle much stronger, but as usual Penn is too busy with his hate campaign against Google Chromebook. That man really needs to be dragged into the garden and shot through the head (metaphorically speaking, NSA!).

Better late than never? In any case even Thurrot is starting to see the point of Windows RT. I still wish they'd unlock the desktop though... my next device may be a Surface Pro 3.

 

All that link says is that the Surface revenue reached $893 million, up from $400 million during fiscal first quarter. It doesn't say how many they sold, unlike when they tell us how many Xbox One's they sold.
In fact according to Gartner the Surface only accounts for 2.1% of the market, with only 4,031,802 tablets sold during 2013.

 

Considering the early reputation it established by its dismal start, characterised by poor rollout and the worst marketing campaign ever, coupled with crazy hostility by Apple-loving tech reviewers, and competing with the well-established JesusPad and dirt-cheap but surprisingly good Android tablets, that is not a bad performance.

 

IMO its awful, it could be argued that the Xbox One had the same "dismal start, characterised by poor rollout and the worst marketing campaign ever" and it's having to compete with the (arguably) better and cheaper PS4. Yet that managed to sell 3.9 million in just five weeks, almost as many Surface's sold in the entire year.

 

The Xbox One already has an existing customer base, who are bound to upgrade from their 360's and XBox originals. But remember how the original started out?

The Surface doesn't have an existing customer base. In that market the iPad and Android Nexus have one already; the Surface has to win one.

 

And that is the point, both had similarly badly handled launches but people wanted the Xbox One because they had used previous generations. Not many people want the Surface, will people want a Surface 13 years from now ? only time will tell.

EDIT: FYI, I'm not saying no one will ever want a Surface, it's just not many people want them at the moment, like i said only time will tell if that changes.

 

And its competitor the PS2 sold 153 Million, I'm not trying to directly compare the Surface with the Xbox, merely pointing out that at this moment in history, what SlowMotionSuicide said about the Surface 2 "the second edition to the tablet practically no one gave a flying **** about." is IMHO correct, like i said only time will tell if that changes.

 

Not many people seemed to want the XBox when it came out in 2001. Sony was already on the second gen of the PlayStation by then, having established a firm user base. But in the end the Xbox series did alright, no?

The Surface has to find its own niche to compete in the tablet market. It has tried to position itself as a tablet that can do productivity, but unfortunately as Gareth points out, in business the purchasing decisions are made mainly by the company, not the user. There is also the independent professional and the student, but marketing has failed to focus on them. Instead Microsoft has tried to market the Surface to the iPad crowd: this is a hip, fun product (but we won't show you how it positively differentiates itself from the iPad).

The whole click-that-touchcover advert illustrates the ****-up-ness of the adverts: aimed at the consumer, it emphasises its main productivity feature. The dancing office advert is aimed at the productivity crowd, but tries to convey how hip and fun a product it is. And the students? They all relate to dancing school girls, of course.

The Surface will eventually find its niche as the magic of tablets wears off and people actually want them to do useful stuff, and as technology progresses to deliver a Surface Pro (3 or 4) at Surface RT lightness, battery life and price. But Microsoft's marketing is a hindrance rather than a help.

tl;dr: it's too early to tell. At least it's doing better than the Chromobook, eh?

 

I think the series as a whole has done alright, i seem to have the idea in my head that Microsoft has made more money from the Xbox brand than Sony has from the Playstation brand, although i could have that wrong so forgive me if i have. From a company/share holder point of view profit trumps units sold IMHO.

Sure is, i think the Chromebook is bunched into the other category when it come to tablet sales.

 

Goddamn speedgoogling. I just went through the title. The damn thing's so niche nobody even bothers to include it in their market share graphs. Here's more up to date numbers.

Windows RT had a market share of 2.1% in 2013

 

That image is over a year old. Not giving MS much of a chance really is it?

I found these projections more telling:

OS market share in tablet unit sales
2012 (actual): Apple 58%, Android 40%, Microsoft 2%
2013 (estimate): Android 58%, Apple 38%, Microsoft 4%
2014 (forecast): Android 65%, Apple 30%, Microsoft 5%
2015 (forecast): Android 64%, Apple 29%, Microsoft 6%
2016 (forecast): Android 63%, Apple 28%, Microsoft 8%
2017 (forecast): Android 63%, Apple 27%, Microsoft 10%
(source: Canalys, November 2013)

OS market share in tablet unit sales
2012 (actual): Android 52%, iOS 45.6%, Microsoft 0.9%; Other: 1.4%
2013 (forecast): Android 60.8%, iOS 35%, Microsoft 3.4%; Other: 0.8%
2017 (forecast): Android 58.8%, iOS 30.6%, Microsoft 10.2%; Other: 0.4%
(source: IDC, December 2013)

 

Well I own a surface pro 2 and even ill say its not a huge seller as nexxo would like to think. 1-2mil sold at last check is hardly ground breaking stuff. ( Apple and Samsung and Sony all sold more high end laptops than Microsoft sold Surface pro 2s in the same quater )

Its a nice piece of kit has it really done much for my day to day not really. Its battery life is still not really there as far as im concerned. It can have whatever features it wants like this LTE thing fact is that will just suck the battery life harder.

My phone does for mobile internet it can work as a hotpoint and does 4g why would I pay MS another £100 for something useless that drains more of my battery hmm.

Chromebook has outsold the Surface in all its various forms last I checked.
Xbox has cost Microsoft aprox 4bil to do, They have made aprox 1bil on top of that.
Sony Playstation has cost more and earned more.

Look at ps4 vs xbox one now both launched together, The general feeling is the xbox is getting smashed in sales 2-1 sales lead is the rumours about. With MS even having to deny a sale of sorts.

 

The Surface Pro 2 is the same class of product as a MacBook Pro, but again without the established customer base and reputation. Expensive, for enthusiasts only.

Chromebook outsold the Surface? I'll have that link shown to me, sir.

 

Greetings!

 

That's only for the US market, any global figures ?