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Microsoft just cut in half its orders to suppliers for the Surface RT tablet

qz.com

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Re: Microsoft just cut in half its orders to suppliers for the Surface RT tablet

#31

Post by douglasisshiny »

roc wrote: post #23
brudgers wrote: post #11

If Microsoft is netting $200 per unit, this represents only $400,000,000 of some net revenue projection (assuming the report is correct). Yes, it's more than a rounding error. But it's not going to have much impact on the bottom line. Deathspiral? Microsoft isn't betting the farm on becoming a hardware company.

When they piss off their OEMs with a little surprise, like the Surface was, there's more at stake than just whether that particular hardware succeeds.

I never bought into this. When the chief of Acer (was it Acer?) made veiled threats, I couldn't help but think, "What are you going to do?" Are they going to abandon Windows? No. The only position they're really in is to make even crappier products.

Re: Microsoft just cut in half its orders to suppliers for the Surface RT tablet

#34

Post by wallflower »

pekk wrote: post #18
Tichy wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So many companies just do cargo culting when they imitate Apple without understanding :-(

When Apple makes a white and slightly rounded version of something that others made years ago, it actually turns out that they are inventing it for the first time. It doesn't exist until Apple makes it.

Slightly tangential response: "Why Apple does not do concept products"

http://counternotions.com/2008/08/12/concept-products/

Re: Microsoft just cut in half its orders to suppliers for the Surface RT tablet

#35

Post by potatolicious »

RawData wrote: post #6

Everyone is waiting for the pro version to come out...why buy this one?

I don't think the Surface Pro is going to change anything, nor do I believe "everyone" is waiting for the Pro. Perhaps the niche market of tech geeks who demand an ultra-high performance tablet, but the Pro is a very poor fit for the general mainstream market.

I mean, let's look at it this way - 50% thicker than the iPad and Surface RT. Nearly 40% heavier than the RT and iPad. Substantially poorer battery life (estimates are between 5-6h as opposed to the 9-10h demonstrated on the RT and iPad). Runs so hot that it needs to put a spinning fan in your hands.

The Pro is strictly a niche device. If the RT isn't doing well the Pro sure as hell isn't going to save it.

Re: Microsoft just cut in half its orders to suppliers for the Surface RT tablet

#36

Post by brudgers »

randomfool wrote: post #27
brudgers wrote: post #11

If Microsoft is netting $200 per unit, this represents only $400,000,000 of some net revenue projection (assuming the report is correct). Yes, it's more than a rounding error. But it's not going to have much impact on the bottom line. Deathspiral? Microsoft isn't betting the farm on becoming a hardware company.

Microsoft made a very large bet on Windows 8 for tablets, making trade-offs against traditional desktop users. You need to also take into account how Windows 8 impacts Microsoft's $20,000,000,000 in Windows revenue. I wouldn't call this a death spiral either, but what you're seeing is a large bet not paying out as expected.

Microsoft sold 40,000,000 windows 8 licenses in 30 days. Those licenses carry very low manufacturing and delivery costs. Their tablets carry high logistical costs and the article suggests a change of about 2,000,000 units over 90 days.

Microsoft is not a hardware company. They haven't made a significant bet on becoming one.

Re: Microsoft just cut in half its orders to suppliers for the Surface RT tablet

#37

Post by enraged_camel »

TylerE wrote: post #20
pekk wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When Apple makes a white and slightly rounded version of something that others made years ago, it actually turns out that they are inventing it for the first time. It doesn't exist until Apple makes it.

It isn't about rounded corners. It's about polished implementations that don't suck running on solid hardware.

Don't bother dude, you can't argue with haters. They're gonna hate no matter what.

Re: Microsoft just cut in half its orders to suppliers for the Surface RT tablet

#38

Post by pixelbath »

Totally offtopic, but please don't set the navigation on your website up like this. Scrolling to the top of the story begins loading other stories, and the navigation really seems to have a mind of its own.

I'm sure it's great for mobile, but on a desktop this site is nearly unusable.

Re: Microsoft just cut in half its orders to suppliers for the Surface RT tablet

#39

Post by ja27 »

colkassad wrote: post #2

So I was in Best Buy the other day and asked a Microsoft rep who was there touting Windows 8 where the Surface tablets were. He said they only sell them online and through their store. Why is that? Perhaps they would sell more Surface tablets if they had them visible in a Best Buy where a good portion of middle America demos new electronics? On another note, why is the Nokia Lumia 920 an AT&T exclusive? If they want…

I saw a geo-targeted Facebook post yesterday telling me (and everyone in Florida) to come to the Microsoft Store to check out the Surface RT. Problem is, the nearest store is a 4 hour round trip. They have exactly one store in Florida, in Orlando. (There are two temporary "holiday" stores in Miami.) It's hard to take a company seriously when they're so uncertain of their retail business that they won't even cover the top 30 U.S. markets with stores.

I thought their partnership with Barnes and Noble was in part to address this. It wouldn't take much to expand the Nook store-within-a-store to include Surface tablets. I've been moderately impressed with the Nook sales reps in their stores. Sure, it would create some conflicts with the Nook Android tablets, but money can solve that problem.

Re: Microsoft just cut in half its orders to suppliers for the Surface RT tablet

#40

Post by danso »

pixelbath wrote: post #38

Totally offtopic, but please don't set the navigation on your website up like this. Scrolling to the top of the story begins loading other stories, and the navigation really seems to have a mind of its own. I'm sure it's great for mobile, but on a desktop this site is nearly unusable.

This particular complaint seems always to be one of the top voted whenever a QZ story makes it to HN. It's certainly a breakaway from traditional nav and I understand its motivations...I wonder if it truly is a bad direction to go, or if it's a "you don't know that you want this yet" feature and if so, if it's just the kind of thing that the typical HN reader will never like (our moms and dads, however...)
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