Can Microsoft take a bite out of Apple?

A long time ago Microsoft dominated the electronics industry. But Apple soon began to capitalize on their innovations and Microsoft then took a back seat to Apples success. Since Apples booming takeover of the industry, Microsoft has seen market share drop and customer loyalty shift.

Recently, Microsoft announced that they wanted to fix the PC industry and were attempting to accomplish this by creating a new tablet computer.  This tablet will be known as the Microsoft Surface and it is said to come with amazing features that are to challenge Apples iPad. Many believe that Microsoft’s attempt to enter the tablet world is a risky move, and question the success they will have against Apple.

In class we learned about the project triangle and its three important factors: performance, time and cost.  I believe that this project triangle will be of key importance to Microsoft in order to succeed against its competitors. In order for them to be successful they will need to make sure they release this tablet in the fall as expected. If Microsoft were to change this expected date, they could run the risk of possibly losing potential customers.

Microsoft will also have to really take cost into consideration. They should make sure to not burn through money and to stay on budget. Also, there has been some concern about what Microsoft plans to price this tablet at. In order for them to see profit they will need to make sure to price this tablet at a reasonable and affordable rate otherwise they will not succeed in selling to consumers.

Lastly, Microsoft will have to display great performance in creating this new Surface tablet. Performance is the most important factor in a projects success and with so many competitors in the industry it is essential for Microsoft to show amazing performance on this product. Without showing great performance they will not be able to sell the product for everything its worth.

Do you think that Microsoft will be able to succeed in the tablet industry? Could the Microsoft Surface be more successful than the iPad? How do you think that the project triangle should be taken into consideration when creating this tablet?

 

References:

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-06-20/microsoft-tries-to-fix-the-pc-industry

8 thoughts on “Can Microsoft take a bite out of Apple?

  1. I agree with you that time, performance and cost is crucial to a product and their outcomes. Surface seems to be a copy of Apple’s iPad however it allows customers to use USB drive in their Surface unlike Apple. Sufrace might be more practical for business people and students who use so much data and transfer that date to other places using a USB drive. I think Surface will be a succesfull product.

  2. Ys becuase they need something new and everyone is getting tiered of the Ipad and people are always going to get something new and want something new and different from everyone else. Cost would be hard for them to price the. People have said that the samsung galxy or the tablets I forgot of the name but matched the andriod operationg system which offers more flexibility.

  3. Microsoft actually introduced a tablet in 2002 and no one cared. Apple doesn’t so much make a superior product as simply has excelled at marketing that allows for massive margins. In general, I think a Microsoft tablet has quite a bit to offer if we work under the assumption that tablets are here to stay at least. Around 90-95% of schools and business are run on Microsoft platforms. Looking at general market share numbers you’ll see about 90% falling under a Windows OS. While products targeted towards people with large amounts of disposable income certainly have a niche which Apple serves very successfully, a vast majority of the market in the business, and consumer realm work on price and features which is a realm Microsoft excels at and will help drive interest in peripheral products like a tablet.

  4. I think what is as interesting about Microsoft releasing the Surface tablet is that they are signaling a major strategy shift in how they go to market. They are adopting a vertical integration strategy, whereby they create the software and make the hardware to go with it. This is a page right out of Apple’s book, and how Apple is able to be so successful with operating margins in the 40+% range, while the rest of the PC industry is between 4-8%. Microsoft has done this in a limited way before, but never with the stakes so high as they are now; rapidly losing mindshare and marketshare to Apple and needing Windows 8 to be a major hit to stay relevant.

  5. I am in agreement with Brendan’s comment. Microsoft has had tablets for a long time, and no one has really known about them because Apple has dominated the marketing of tablets. In my personal opinion, the Microsoft tablet actually has much better functionality for business than the IPad. The Microsoft tablet has Excel, Word, and PowerPoint, a huge bonus that is not available on the IPad. This feature alone makes these tablets more attractive to businesses. Apple has more bells and whistles with all the apps that are available, but I know my company prefers to use the Microsoft tablets for their employees. I think that with the new release, if Microsoft does a good job of marketing and comes in at the right price point, they have a good chance of taking significant market share from Apple, especially in the business world where people are more concerned with functionality and less concerned with gadgets.

  6. I believe that Microsoft will be really successful with the new surface tablet that they are coming out with. one of the reasons is because of the ports that are included. This basically is just killed that iPad, if it had that ports it would be more convenient for all users. I think that the surface is going to remove the iPad form the market unless apple does that same thing and includes the USB, HDMI, and other ports that people like to use on their regular computers, and laptops.

  7. When I saw the presentation I was just as excited as when Apple first announced the iPhone. I most certainly think they will take the tablet market by storm. They already showed performance, windows 8 is no slouch and the touch interface “Surface” has been in development for what seems like forever. Microsoft is doing what everyone else has talked about but hasn’t, they are incorporating one OS that will be on all devices. Applications will not be an issue because when developers go to make an app for windows 8 they will be essentially creating that app for both the tablet and phone. The main concern here will be the price. They were hush hush about it at the conference and have yet to announce. They most certainly have to make the RT version tablets lower cost than the iPad and the full PC tablet has to be lower cost than the Air.

  8. I do not believe the Surface will ever be able to erode the market share the iPad has already gained for Apple. However, if the Surface lives up to everything it is said to be, I can see Microsoft being second behind Apple in the tablet market. I strongly believe that iTunes is the differentiating factor in the tablet/mp3 industry. Though Apple does produce some very solid technology, it is the ease to purchase an album or a book that differentiates them from competitors. In the iPad market, Apple really has never seen a legitimate competitor, though many have tried. Similar to Microsoft’s dominance in web browsers, Apple has shown the same cunning in the tablet market with it’s iPad. That being said, I think the consumer market is ready for something new. In technology, it feels like new products drive demand regardless of functionality. New products sell. And Microsoft is a long-established credible company. I believe the Surface will be a strong success, but overall Microsoft needs to branch out of their strong suite of web browsers. The Surface might bring back some company interest, but hopefully it is only a step in bringing the company back to the forefront in technology.

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