Oprah: Microsoft's Surface is like a Mercedes

[b4u]

http://www.businessinsider.com/oprah-likes-the-surface-2012-11

Oprah is calling the Surface one of her "Favorite things" for 2012.

"The Surface, Microsoft's first tablet, feels like a Mercedes-Benz to me, people! The full-size keyboard built right into the cover makes work easy, the very smart kickstand makes watching a movie or Skyping a friend a delight, the less than a pound-and-a-half weight makes a great alternative to a laptop, and the many other features make it fun for work and play. Now, that's a wowser!"

Wow that's a pretty big endorsement aimed at millions of women and maybe a few men

 

[asterwald]

I always trust Oprahs opinion.

 

[onthebottom]

Doesn't look like it worked, perhaps tweeting about it from her iPad reduced the impact slightly... LOL, you can't make that shit up....


DigiTimes says Surface RT orders cut in half

by Geoff Gasior — 12:32 PM on November 29, 2012
With only one month passing since Windows 8's launch, it's really too early to weigh in on whether the OS has been a success. After all, the x86-based tablets and convertibles that play to Win8's strengths aren't even out yet. One can, however, buy a number of different ARM-based devices running Windows RT. Microsoft's own Surface RT tablet has the highest profile among those devices, and its sales appear to be much lower than expected. According to DigiTimes' sources in the Taiwanese supply chain, Microsoft's initial order of four million Surface RT tablets has been cut in half.

The Surface isn't the only Windows RT device that's supposedly suffering. DigiTimes' sources claim that demand is also weak for similar systems from Asus, Dell, and Samsung. The latest NPD data seems to corroborate that assertion, noting that tablets have made up less than one percent of Windows 8 device sales thus far. NPD's report explicitly excludes Surface sales, but there's no indication that other Windows RT devices were left out of the calculations.

If sales of Windows RT devices are weak, consumers could be holding out for tablets and convertibles running the full-fat version of Windows 8. Compatiblity with x86 applications is kind of a big deal for those who need to do real work. Other folks may simply be waiting to see what budget Win8 tablets based on Intel's Clover Trail processor have in store before deciding whether to go that route or pick up something with Windows RT.

 

[djk]

She's a big fan of the Surface.

LMAO.

 

[WoodPeckr]

I always trust Oprahs opinion.

Can't go wrong with her. At least she has real credibility!....:eyebrows:

 

[ray liotta]

Not a big fan of Mercedes -3rd best German car co-BMW & Porsche way better.
Same with her choice of tablet. Lol

 

[donrufio]

Microsoft must be desperate needing a celebrity to endorser their product...really she bought 12 lol more like given to her!

 

[rafterman]

Microsoft must be desperate needing a celebrity to endorser their product...really she bought 12 lol more like given to her!

Yeah one of life's cruel ironies is the more you have the more shit you can get for free.

 

[hobnew]

Didn't the guy who designed Windows 8 leave the company as soon as the sales projections came in?

And Oprah has lost her omnipotence these days, and doesn't scare me anymore.
So no thank you.

 

[onthebottom]

A million units in Q4 - a holiday quarter right after launch... about what the Nexus does in a month or the iPad does in a week.... pretty sad really...

http://news.cnet.com/8301-10805_3-57557112-75/surface-sales-may-exceed-1m-in-q4-says-researcher/


Surface sales may exceed 1M in Q4, says researcher

Microsoft's first PC product is expected to see sales of more than 1 million units in the fourth quarter.

Microsoft's Surface RT tablet is expected to see sales of more than a million units in the fourth quarter, IHS iSuppli told CNET today.

"We see estimated sales of 1.3 million" in the quarter, Rhoda Alexander, an analyst at IHS iSuppli, said in a phone interview today. The fourth quarter still has a few weeks left.

"I would be surprised to see it much above that," she added as a qualifier.

The Surface RT version of Microsoft's tablet first went on sale October 26, well into the fourth quarter, so sales of over a million would have occurred in roughly two months.

By comparison, Google's Nexus 7 tablet, which went on sale in June, started at a pace of about 500,000 units a month and is now selling at close to 1 million per month. The Nexus 7 has an entry-level price of $199, whereas the Surface RT tablet -- which runs a limited version of Windows 8 -- starts at $499.

Market-leading Apple sold 14 million iPads in the third quarter.

But other analyst estimates that came out today for Surface RT sales put the number below 1 million.

A Boston-based brokerage firm, Detwiler Fenton, claimed in a research note today that Microsoft is likely to sell less than a million units in the December quarter.

Initial Surface RT orders that came to Asia suppliers a month back "were really aggressive," Alexander said, but those numbers weren't "borne out."

Ballpark estimates for those initial numbers were recently brought up in an Asia-based report, which cited much higher numbers than iSuppli is seeing now.

The Surface RT tablet has a relatively restricted sales channel via physical stores. It is sold only through 31 Microsoft stores and 34 smaller holiday specialty stores.

It is also available through Microsoft's online store in eight markets including Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, the United Kingdom, and the U.S.

Microsoft has not disclosed sales figures for the Surface RT tablet. A company representative declined comment.

 

[George The Curious]

mercedes must have a lot of bugs then...

 

[Max Webster]

What do you mean by bugs? I've replaced my Ipad2 with a surface tablet and have not looked back since. Yes I miss flipboard but otherwise I'm getting much more use out of my surface then I ever did with me ipad. To type this message I can do it in less than 1/5th the time it would have taken me to do using the screen on the ipad (plus I have word and excel).

 

[onthebottom]

What do you mean by bugs? I've replaced my Ipad2 with a surface tablet and have not looked back since. Yes I miss flipboard but otherwise I'm getting much more use out of my surface then I ever did with me ipad. To type this message I can do it in less than 1/5th the time it would have taken me to do using the screen on the ipad (plus I have word and excel).

Why are the reviews so harsh and the sales so small? I expected the Surface to be a hit but at 1M for a holiday quarter it's a sales dud.

 

[George The Curious]

What do you mean by bugs? I've replaced my Ipad2 with a surface tablet and have not looked back since. Yes I miss flipboard but otherwise I'm getting much more use out of my surface then I ever did with me ipad. To type this message I can do it in less than 1/5th the time it would have taken me to do using the screen on the ipad (plus I have word and excel).

good for word and excel - this is the last advantage microsoft still has. - legacy software that will one day be replaced by google and apple.
other than that... I see Surface nothing more than a touchscreen netbook, with a lousy physical keyboard.
it shows microsoft cannot move away from the old thinking. Yes apple on-screen keyboard sucks. but look at Android alternatives, with multi-touch swype style input and predictive word corrections, I can type equally fast on my HTC's 2.5" wide screen as my laptop keyboard. it is all matter of getting used to.
Check this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxU6Y4Vki78 and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j7MIuZnrJOY

The biggest problem with Surface of all, is it does not support old PC programs. So you cannot run most of your favorite programs on your laptop and desktop on Surface. so what's really a point? If I wanted a computing device with traditional keyboard, I'd rather get a touch-screen netbook?

 

[George The Curious]

Ipad doesn't support any old programs either, whats your point?
Last time I tried google docs on ipad it barely worked too, and google docs is quite pathetic for business use.

I think iPad is just as stupid. My point is that why would someone buy an Surface when a touch screen netbook can do the same and more (running PC programs?)

 

[onthebottom]

Netbook sales have crashed and Surface sales have yet to take off, you guys seem to be out of synch with the market.

OTB

 

[WoodPeckr]

Netbook sales have crashed and Surface sales have yet to take off, you guys seem to be out of synch with the market.

OTB

LMAO!!!!
Too bad Wall Street doesn't share your delusions !!!.....:eyebrows:

How's that $1000 Apple stock 'target' working out for ya?....:Eek:

 

[goodguy1977]

LMAO!!!!
Too bad Wall Street doesn't share your delusions !!!.....:eyebrows:

How's that $1000 Apple stock 'target' working out for ya?....:Eek:

Hello there,

Have to chime in on this one. If you compare the 5 year chart of Apple versus Microsoft there might be a correlation on the tablet vs. the traditional PC market. (I would agree that the Iphone is a big part as well)

Another comparison would be Qcom vs. Intc.

Actually most research points to the fact that firms like Microsoft and Intel need to get meaningfully involved with the mobile market.

With the rumoured pricing of the Intel chip version of the Surface it's pretty much priced to die.

Microsoft is really starting to look like IBM did in the early 90's.

Goodguy

 

[onthebottom]

Looks like mediocre battery life:

 

[onthebottom]

Smaller tablets: