Microsoft Surface Struggles to Ship A Million Units

zacharye writes "While some see potential in Microsoft's Surface tablet, most industry watchers appear to have written off the device at this point. Orders were reportedly cut in half following a slow launch, and Microsoft's debut slate has been hammered time and time again by reviewers and analysts. The latest to pile on is Boston-based brokerage firm Detwiler Fenton, which estimates that when all is said and done, Microsoft will have sold fewer than 1 million Surface tablets in the slate's debut quarter." Still better than 25,000.

Told

[serkit]

They sure got told.

The Problem

[CastrTroy]

Most Honest reviews of the surface are actually pretty positive. I think the main problem is that it's $650 by the time you add the touch cover. And most of the reviews say you need the Type cover to get a really good experience, which is even more expensive. For the price you can get a decent ultrabook that runs all your old windows programs, and is about the same size. Only thing missing is touch, which although nice, isn't a must-have feature. Most people are probably awaiting the Surface Pro, if they are thinking of buying a surface at all, because then you can run all your old Windows Software. If you can't run your old software, you could just get an iPad or a Nexus 7/10.

Re:I haven't read a bad review of it

[UnknowingFool]

Then you're not paying attention. Most of the reviews [engadget.com] I've seen say the OS is fine and Metro/Modern works okay for a tablet, it can be frustrating to use without a touchscreen on a desktop. So while Win 8 will probably work on older hardware, it might be best to wait to get it when consumers can get hardware with touch.

Re:The actual reason

[Trepidity]

There's still a lot of film/TV stuff that's available on DVD but not via online streaming, at least legally.

Modern tablets have none of those flaws

[SuperKendall]

Also we're at the verge of a netbook-caliber tablet crash where everyone realizes they all suck and stop buying them.

You must have just woken up from cryo-sleep you were put into just before the launch of the iPad.

What did you get wrong?

They're too fragile

The iPad is not at all fragile compared to a laptop. Inherently anything without a hinge is more durable , the same goes for anything with spinning media (though laptops are more and more using SSD so that advantage has waned).

they don't have a DVD drive

Which bothers no-one because they simply rip or download DVD's onto them.

they're harder to type on

They are harder for YOU to type on. When you get used to the difference you can type just as rapidly and the tablets having larger screens means easy to hit keys.

For people like you that need a crutch keyboard cases exist for tablets, though those of us that can type will tend to snicker a bit at your inability to adapt when we see you using it.

the screen is tiny

So is any laptop really, that's not stopped the march of them taking over desktops.

And with all of the window clutter of desktop OS's taken away the screen size is really not that much smaller.

they get dirty with fingerprints

Sadly so do laptops. But in use the fingerprints do not obscure the screen on a tablet.

they don't run 99% of software ever written

Here is the hugest disconnect. I would argue that at this point the advantage has flipped to tablets in terms of ability to run NEW software. The most exciting software today will ship on tablets first, desktops second if at all.

everything they do on it is designed to cost money

Another big disconnect, with tablet software costing FAR less than desktop software.

the browsers don't display pages correctly

Science wants to study your pre-WeKit brain to see what the past looks like.

The hallmark of modern tablets is that they in fact display pages just as they should be.

the battery life is a lie

Why did you buy a non-Apple tablet if battery life was important to you? Apple's battery figures are accurate and much better than other tablets [tuaw.com].

But here's the real kicker - any tablet still has way better battery life than just about any laptop!

most don't have USB flash drive capabilities

The internet, look into it.

they don't work with the majority of printers

They work with some and that's enough. Mostly people don't print much anymore.

and it's difficult to do meaningful work on them in any way shape or form.

Again, adapt or get out of the way for those of us that can. I've done a TON of meaningful work on tablets and smart phones. If you can't you need to retire from work.

Re:failure round 2 incoming

[ducomputergeek]

This. I was at a MS event on the Win 8 developers track and the presenter discussed this at how it is basically to maintain one code base between Windows 8 (Desktop/x86) and WinRT for Surface and Phone. I expect there to be some differences like I don't expect the desktop to have a GPS built in like on a phone, but the differences in the API go beyond that like trying to access the media API for sound between the two are different. I sat there at the presentation basically shaking my head thinking "WTF?".

Re:Fire Sale?

[nateman1352]

Actually there was a bit of a fire sale on the Kin.

The Kin ONE went from $50 to $30 after a month [informationweek.com]. The Kin TWO went from $100 to $50 at the same time. The devices where then discontinued shortly after.

Verizon then sent the remaining unsold units back to Microsoft. After a year, that same inventory of unsold devices emerged with a firmware update that turned them into feature phones, named the Kin ONEm [pcmag.com] and the Kin TWOm [pcmag.com].