About a month ago, I wrote about Apple's foray into the 2-in-1 market as a reaction to declining tablet fortunes. Ironically, one of the key pieces of evidences to prove my theory was the following:
"The biggest proof, however, that they are going for the 2-in-1 market is that they invited Microsoft to demo how the Microsoft Office leverages the Apple pencil to work with Excel, Word and PowerPoint. As the Verge notes in this article, the pencil can draw shapes that converts to actual shapes. The video also highlights how you can use the multi-window feature to move content between the Office Apps. Microsoft gives more details on these features on post the put up yesterday."
Well, the irony lays in that Microsoft released the Surface book yesterday - just under a month of Apple's announcement:
They also released the Surface Pro 4, however, if YouTube views are any indication of which product got the most excitement the Surface Book nearly had triple the number of views of the Surface Pro.
And the reviews are quite positive.
According to Wired: "Microsoft’s Surface Book is the most exciting Windows laptop in years. Actually, aside from a few hot-rod gaming rigs, it may be the only exciting Windows laptop in years. That’s great news for people who’ve longed to long for a PC again. And it could be a nightmare for every other PC manufacturer.
If you missed the Surface Book announcement, you’ll want to get acquainted. It’s a 13.5-inch laptop with a killer display, maxed-out guts, a funky cool hinge, and a top half that detaches, like the saucer of the USS Enterprise, to become a thick, powerful tablet. Reattach the display face-up, and the Surface Book enters “draw mode,” which brings the full power of a discrete Nvidia GPU to bear on stylus-based sketches and similar applicationxs" [SIC]
According to The Verge: "I got a chance to take a closer look at the Surface Laptop during Microsoft's Windows 10 devices event in New York City this morning. It's gorgeous.
Microsoft wants its Surface Book to be a MacBook Pro killer, and while it's too early to say whether it is, it's off to a great start."
According to BGR: "Microsoft on Tuesday had its best product unveiling in years and revealed several interesting products that culminated with the announcement of the Surface Book, which it bill as the “ultimate” laptop.
Microsoft dazzled the audience by revealing the Surface Book is actually more than a MacBook Pro clone, as it’s able to transform into a tablet."
There is one catch, however, it is a bit pricey. According to CIO, "Surface Book, at its lowest configuration, will run you $1,499, while the highest configuration retails at $2,699". This works out to be $1,949 to $3,499 Canadian according the Microsoftstore Canada website.
How pricey?
Just to contrast, as I noted in the blog post on Apple mega-pad,
"Although I thought the size of the mega-tablet would throw people off, the price may be a bigger factor that could be an obstacle to consumers. The tablet starts at $799 coming with 64 GB of storage, the keyboard runs about $169, and the pencil is another $99. That puts the starting price at $1,067. In contrast a 2-in-1 Yoga starts at $829."
So are people going to pay basically a $500 premium for the a pure Microsoft experience?
I think corporate IT would have a hard time justifying this premium in contrast to the Yoga. However, from a consumer perspective, it remains to be seen whether this can inject the enthusiasm into PC market.
The other interesting question: is Microsoft hedging its bets by making Office365 available on the iPad?
It seems that Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has realized that he has to fight a strategic war on two fronts: the hardware front and the software/services front.
Making the Office365 available on the iPad seems to be the answer to software/services front: truly embrace the promise of the cloud to be made available on any device thereby maintaining Microsoft's dominance in office productivity. This contrasts to what I originally thought: if Microsoft made Office available on the iPad I thought they would be shooting themselves in the foot because who would then by the Surface?
In terms of the hardware arena, Apple has captured the "mind share" for a long time now: high quality PC as well as stunning mobile devices that have enabled what I call the "toasterfication of IT": reducing the complexity of a PC to something that's easy to operate as a toaster.
What Nadella states in an interview with The Verge's Nilay Patel (see below) is that he wants to "stimulate demand for the entire ecosystem". In other words, by setting the bar so high - he is forcing Windows PC partners to try harder and deliver more. And I can see his strategy working: I recently bought the Dell Inspiron 13 7000 2-in-1 and it could be argued that by pursuing the Surface line of PCs Dell was forced to up its game.
While watching the interview the other announcement that caught my eye was the ability to convert its latest mobile device Lumia 950 XL into a PC. According to The Verge, "Continuum for Phones, it’s designed to take advantage of new universal apps that run across Windows 10 on phones, PCs, tablets, and the Xbox One. If you’re running a mobile version of Excel on your phone it will magically resize and transform into a keyboard- and mouse-friendly version for use on a bigger screen." As Nadella states in the interview, this will help capture marketshare in the developing world. Also, think corporate IT: how many managers would ditch the PC and mobile phone for one of these + a couple of Continuum docks? As I had noted in this post in 2012 regarding the then just-launched Surface: "users will no longer need to carry a laptop and a tablet: the Microsoft window 8 machines can act as a laptop when you are at work or at home and as a table when you are on the go".
Although the ability for Microsoft to recapture the imagination of the masses is up for debate, what is clear is that CEO Satya Nadella has imprinted his vision on the future of the company and he's going to give his competitors a run for their money.
Showing posts with label iPad. Show all posts
Showing posts with label iPad. Show all posts
Thursday, October 8, 2015
Thursday, September 10, 2015
12.9 inch iPadPro: Too pricey or a step towards "2-in-1 Domination"?
Yesterday, Apple launched its latest line of mobile devices. However, it's the "off year" where the "S-ify" their existing line up, so mostly incremental improvements around their successful line of smartphones and tablets. Perhaps the most interesting announcement with respect to the phone line up was the new payment plans you can get. As reported by the Verge, "You can either pay for the 6S in installments of $27 per month, or lease an iPhone for $32 per month, which lets you trade in your phone for a new one every year". Note: this is a US only program.
This very much seems to address the woes in the tablet market that we discussed recently. As I noted in a recent blogpost:
"Things don't look as rosy for the iPad. Fortune reported that "the iPad is the current leader in the tablet market, accounting for 24.5% of all tablet sales, its market share has consistently decreased by about 18% over the last few years".
Nick Statt of CNET posted a great article that discusses some possible reasons as to the declining fortunes of the tablet. Once seen as a PC killer, now is in a state of normalization. One could argue that the tablet is entering into the "trough of disillusionment" after slide down the "peak of inflated expectations"...When it comes to the larger tablet form factors, Nick points out that tablet owners are favouring to keep their iPads for a longer period of time and now are opting for the 2-in-1s (like Lenovo's Yoga line of laptops), which enable more productivity than the tablet counterparts." [emphasis added]
As they have highlighted in the video, they have designed the tablet to work with the Logitech "Create" magnetic clip on keyboard. The keyboard interfaces via the magnetic clips instead of Bluetooth, thus saving battery life. They also unveiled the $99 Apple Pencil, featured in the following video:
The other big announcement was the 12.9 inch iPad Pro, which seems odd at first glance as they decided for a bigger form factor. The following video gives a good overview of the features that this new "mega-tablet" offers:
This very much seems to address the woes in the tablet market that we discussed recently. As I noted in a recent blogpost:
"Things don't look as rosy for the iPad. Fortune reported that "the iPad is the current leader in the tablet market, accounting for 24.5% of all tablet sales, its market share has consistently decreased by about 18% over the last few years".
Nick Statt of CNET posted a great article that discusses some possible reasons as to the declining fortunes of the tablet. Once seen as a PC killer, now is in a state of normalization. One could argue that the tablet is entering into the "trough of disillusionment" after slide down the "peak of inflated expectations"...When it comes to the larger tablet form factors, Nick points out that tablet owners are favouring to keep their iPads for a longer period of time and now are opting for the 2-in-1s (like Lenovo's Yoga line of laptops), which enable more productivity than the tablet counterparts." [emphasis added]
As they have highlighted in the video, they have designed the tablet to work with the Logitech "Create" magnetic clip on keyboard. The keyboard interfaces via the magnetic clips instead of Bluetooth, thus saving battery life. They also unveiled the $99 Apple Pencil, featured in the following video:
Apple has been the vendor of choice for the creative, so it's no surprise that they decided to focus on the stylus instead of the keyboard.
The biggest proof, however, that they are going for the 2-in-1 market is that they invited Microsoft to demo how the Microsoft Office leverages the Apple pencil to work with Excel, Word and PowerPoint. As the Verge notes in this article, the pencil can draw shapes that converts to actual shapes. The video also highlights how you can use the multi-window feature to move content between the Office Apps. Microsoft gives more details on these features on post the put up yesterday.
Although I thought the size of the mega-tablet would throw people off, the price may be a bigger factor that could be an obstacle to consumers. The tablet starts at $799 coming with 64 GB of storage, the keyboard runs about $169, and the pencil is another $99. That puts the starting price at $1,067. In contrast a 2-in-1 Yoga starts at $829.
Will Apple be able to turn its tablet fortunes around?
I think that this move will enable them to compete effectively in the 2-in-1 market place as well as the traditional tablet marketplace: those who are in the market for a new laptop or new tablet will give this a serious look. However, I don't think it will change the overall market demand for the tablet. Tablets are no longer a novelty device: they are largely consumption devices where you can get some work done, but the heavy lifting is best left to a good old laptop.
The biggest proof, however, that they are going for the 2-in-1 market is that they invited Microsoft to demo how the Microsoft Office leverages the Apple pencil to work with Excel, Word and PowerPoint. As the Verge notes in this article, the pencil can draw shapes that converts to actual shapes. The video also highlights how you can use the multi-window feature to move content between the Office Apps. Microsoft gives more details on these features on post the put up yesterday.
Although I thought the size of the mega-tablet would throw people off, the price may be a bigger factor that could be an obstacle to consumers. The tablet starts at $799 coming with 64 GB of storage, the keyboard runs about $169, and the pencil is another $99. That puts the starting price at $1,067. In contrast a 2-in-1 Yoga starts at $829.
Will Apple be able to turn its tablet fortunes around?
I think that this move will enable them to compete effectively in the 2-in-1 market place as well as the traditional tablet marketplace: those who are in the market for a new laptop or new tablet will give this a serious look. However, I don't think it will change the overall market demand for the tablet. Tablets are no longer a novelty device: they are largely consumption devices where you can get some work done, but the heavy lifting is best left to a good old laptop.
Wednesday, August 26, 2015
PCs: "The news of my death has been greatly exaggerated!"
With Apple's iPad storming the scene, some felt that the PC was dead giving away ground to the tablet form factor. What I felt that Apple achieved with the iPad, was the "toasterfication of IT": turning the relative complex device in something that is easy to operate as a toaster. This lent it to be something that would a fan favourite with the elderly and kids.
Things don't look as rosy for the iPad. Fortune reported that "the iPad is the current leader in the tablet market, accounting for 24.5% of all tablet sales, its market share has consistently decreased by about 18% over the last few years".
Nick Statt of CNET posted a great article that discusses some possible reasons as to the declining fortunes of the tablet. Once seen as a PC killer, now is in a state of normalization. One could argue that the tablet is entering into the "trough of disillusionment" after slide down the "peak of inflated expectations". Nick explains in his article that mini-tablets have lost market share to the the phablet (as I have noted in previous posts, I strongly dislike this term. But phonelet isn't much better!). Quoting IDC analyst, Jean Philippe Bouchard, "When your phone is only an inch or two shy, what's the point".
I find his analysis dead on: when I migrated from the Blackberry, I went straight to the Samsung Note to get a larger screen that would be easier to type because I was so used to the physical keyboard. However, when I was contemplating getting the Nexus 7 from Google, I thought exactly that: why bother with the tablet when my Note is already a "pocket tablet"?
Things don't look as rosy for the iPad. Fortune reported that "the iPad is the current leader in the tablet market, accounting for 24.5% of all tablet sales, its market share has consistently decreased by about 18% over the last few years".
Nick Statt of CNET posted a great article that discusses some possible reasons as to the declining fortunes of the tablet. Once seen as a PC killer, now is in a state of normalization. One could argue that the tablet is entering into the "trough of disillusionment" after slide down the "peak of inflated expectations". Nick explains in his article that mini-tablets have lost market share to the the phablet (as I have noted in previous posts, I strongly dislike this term. But phonelet isn't much better!). Quoting IDC analyst, Jean Philippe Bouchard, "When your phone is only an inch or two shy, what's the point".
I find his analysis dead on: when I migrated from the Blackberry, I went straight to the Samsung Note to get a larger screen that would be easier to type because I was so used to the physical keyboard. However, when I was contemplating getting the Nexus 7 from Google, I thought exactly that: why bother with the tablet when my Note is already a "pocket tablet"?
When it comes to the larger tablet form factors, Nick points out that tablet owners are favouring to keep their iPads for a longer period of time and now are opting for the 2-in-1s (like Lenovo's Yoga line of laptops), which enable more productivity than the tablet counterparts.
Why is this the case?
It seems to me that people have realized that tablets are more of a consumption device rather than a productivity device: they are great for reading, listen to podcasts or watching videos. However, if you want to churn out a blogpost, document or even email - you need that physical keyboard.
Wall Street Journal also had an interesting op-ed pointing to the continued usefulness of the PC. Geoffrey Fowler attempts to convince us that the next computer should actually be - wait for this - a desktop! Mr. Fowler, not without humour, mentioned how a friend asked him whether he still drove a horse and buggy!
Jokes aside, I think he does a pretty good job in pointing out that when you are able to connect remotely via multiple devices to cloud based software to get your work done, desktops make a lot of sense. In the article, he included the following link that points to the improved productivity (17% more to be exact) of using a full keyboard and mouse. The article includes a number of suggestion, including the HP Pavillion mini, which looks quite tempting (see the CNET preview below). Definitely agree with the tip about using the keyboard and mouse: I actually lug around my ergonomic Microsoft mouse and keyboard connecting to my work issued 2-in-1 Lenovo Yoga to save my wrists and neck.
The revised interest in the PC and retreat in sales of the iPad highlights the importance of being on top of tech trends and avoiding the "bleeding edge": executives should be sure of the business value of the technology before jumping the bandwagon.
Why is this the case?
It seems to me that people have realized that tablets are more of a consumption device rather than a productivity device: they are great for reading, listen to podcasts or watching videos. However, if you want to churn out a blogpost, document or even email - you need that physical keyboard.
Wall Street Journal also had an interesting op-ed pointing to the continued usefulness of the PC. Geoffrey Fowler attempts to convince us that the next computer should actually be - wait for this - a desktop! Mr. Fowler, not without humour, mentioned how a friend asked him whether he still drove a horse and buggy!
Jokes aside, I think he does a pretty good job in pointing out that when you are able to connect remotely via multiple devices to cloud based software to get your work done, desktops make a lot of sense. In the article, he included the following link that points to the improved productivity (17% more to be exact) of using a full keyboard and mouse. The article includes a number of suggestion, including the HP Pavillion mini, which looks quite tempting (see the CNET preview below). Definitely agree with the tip about using the keyboard and mouse: I actually lug around my ergonomic Microsoft mouse and keyboard connecting to my work issued 2-in-1 Lenovo Yoga to save my wrists and neck.
The revised interest in the PC and retreat in sales of the iPad highlights the importance of being on top of tech trends and avoiding the "bleeding edge": executives should be sure of the business value of the technology before jumping the bandwagon.
Thursday, May 9, 2013
Windows 8: Time to Eat Crow or Wait?
I have been mulling for some time whether it is time to eat crow over my previous post on how Windows 8 could potentially outrun the incumbent iPad, as the mobile device of choice. As I had noted in the post, I felt that the the Microsoft was attempted to ride the consumerization of IT wave and get the users up to speed on their "modern user interface" (Microsoft does not like the term "Metro" which tech journalist still use because that was its original code-name). Recent sales figures put Windows 8 roughly at the same level as Windows 7, when comparing the first 6 months of their sales. One may speculate that this was not the run away hit that Redmond was hoping for - this is based on the fact that they did not release the Windows 8 sales data during the Q3 earnings call. Reuters also points out that the average sales of Windows 8 is actually below Windows 7 and this could be due to the massive incentives that Microsoft was offering for people to upgrade their systems (e.g. buying a Windows 7 PC in the months before Windows 8's release an upgrade cost $15, in the few months after Windows 8's one could upgrade to Windows 8 for $40).
As I had noted in my post that there was tremendous room for Microsoft to shoot itself in the foot. My analysis focused around the possibility of the Microsoft releasing Office on the iPad and Android mobile operating systems. However, the issue had to do with Microsoft's gamble that by forcing users to adopt the Metro interface (take that Microsoft!) they can move users away from the interface that they had got accustomed to years. John C Dovorak, a veteran journalist in the tech industry, noted in this PC Mag article (and many times on TWIT) that people like the simplicity of the desktop and there is no real compelling reason to leave this behind for the Metro interface. But to be fair, this is a hard call for Microsoft who did try to give the users the best of both worlds by giving the users the option to get to the desktop from the Metro interface.
One of the possible issues was Steven Sinofsky's approach to leadership (he was not known to be a nice guy), which may have prevented user feedback from being incorporated. Now that he's gone it appears that the next version of Windows, known as Windows 8.1 or Windows Blue will be bringing some features to "address customer feedback". Examples of such rumoured features include boot to desktop and bringing back the start button.
Although this may be good in terms of corralling the Windows faithful, the hope was that Windows 8 would give the iPad a run for its money.
Although a long shot, there is a possibility that Microsoft could still make this happen: Amazon leaked this on their website: a $380 8.1 inch Windows 8 Tablet - that runs the full Windows 8 (i.e. not the more tablet oriented Windows RT) operating system. Although it does not come with MS Office 365, if you've bought for one machine you can share it with this tablet (and three other machines as noted in this previous post).
Although not likely a large factor in the overall success of Windows 8, the Washington giant did actually release a bizarre set of videos to advertise this OS (the Mashable links go to another YouTuber, but this one actually goes back to the official Windows 8 channel!):
As for me, I just ordered a Windows 7 laptop to replace the machine I am currently using. However, I am in the market for a tablet. If these tablet come in around the $300 to $400 range then I am definitely thinking of trying these machines out. In other words, I think I will wait before I eat crow.
As I had noted in my post that there was tremendous room for Microsoft to shoot itself in the foot. My analysis focused around the possibility of the Microsoft releasing Office on the iPad and Android mobile operating systems. However, the issue had to do with Microsoft's gamble that by forcing users to adopt the Metro interface (take that Microsoft!) they can move users away from the interface that they had got accustomed to years. John C Dovorak, a veteran journalist in the tech industry, noted in this PC Mag article (and many times on TWIT) that people like the simplicity of the desktop and there is no real compelling reason to leave this behind for the Metro interface. But to be fair, this is a hard call for Microsoft who did try to give the users the best of both worlds by giving the users the option to get to the desktop from the Metro interface.
One of the possible issues was Steven Sinofsky's approach to leadership (he was not known to be a nice guy), which may have prevented user feedback from being incorporated. Now that he's gone it appears that the next version of Windows, known as Windows 8.1 or Windows Blue will be bringing some features to "address customer feedback". Examples of such rumoured features include boot to desktop and bringing back the start button.
Although this may be good in terms of corralling the Windows faithful, the hope was that Windows 8 would give the iPad a run for its money.
Although a long shot, there is a possibility that Microsoft could still make this happen: Amazon leaked this on their website: a $380 8.1 inch Windows 8 Tablet - that runs the full Windows 8 (i.e. not the more tablet oriented Windows RT) operating system. Although it does not come with MS Office 365, if you've bought for one machine you can share it with this tablet (and three other machines as noted in this previous post).
Although not likely a large factor in the overall success of Windows 8, the Washington giant did actually release a bizarre set of videos to advertise this OS (the Mashable links go to another YouTuber, but this one actually goes back to the official Windows 8 channel!):
As for me, I just ordered a Windows 7 laptop to replace the machine I am currently using. However, I am in the market for a tablet. If these tablet come in around the $300 to $400 range then I am definitely thinking of trying these machines out. In other words, I think I will wait before I eat crow.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)