Microsoft's tablet future has 'job-one urgency'

Microsoft's tablet future has 'job-one urgency'
During his company's latest quarterly earnings conference call, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer spoke about the company's plans for tablets in the near future, but remained very scant on the details.

The company posted its best quarter ever last week, but has been openly criticized for its lack of strategy in the tablet market, as well as in other consumer businesses.



When asked specifically about tablets, Ballmer said Windows has been available on tablets and slates for years, with constant sales. However, none of Microsoft's devices have ever come close to the buzz created by Apple's iPad.

"Apple has done an interesting job of putting together a product," Ballmer said, admitting that "they've certainly sold more than I'd like them to sell."

"For us, the job is to say we have a lot of [intellectual property] and software and we've done a lot of work on ink and touch," he continued, via PCW. "We have got to make things happen. Just like we had to make things happen on netbooks, we have to with Windows 7 on slates. We're in the process of doing that as we speak."

Without giving more details, he concluded: "We've got to push right now with our hardware partners. People will say, 'When?' I'll say, 'As soon as they are ready, and it is job-one urgency.' Nobody is sleeping at the switch."

Any timetable for a new tablet release? They "will be out in not a heck of a long time."

Written by: Andre Yoskowitz @ 30 Jul 2010 14:38
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  • 4 comments
  • dcmorrow

    Seriously, Apple sells iPads because they are Apple branded products. (The quality is there, but quality is immaterial due to Apple's branding strength) Microsoft has nothing or everything to worry about just because they are not Apple.

    Yes tablets have been around for a long time and will continue to not sell as well as Apple's iPad for the sole reason that Windows is not intimate enough and Microsoft does not have the same type of ethos Apple does. Therefore as long as Apple is around, Microsoft will continue to fail in the ultra-portable market place.

    Actually Microsoft will be third, behind Google and Apple.

    30.7.2010 14:58 #1

  • KillerBug

    the reason that windows tables don't sell so well is because they are for business...they are not toys like the ipad. they run real apps, they run fast, and the batteries only last a few hours at most. plus, thay have to boot up, shut down, etc...they are not even in the same market as the ipad.

    oh, and someone needs to tell this guy that hp switched the slate to palmOS, and changed the name as well...

    31.7.2010 04:10 #2

  • Gnawnivek

    Isn't this the same discussion with the Wii vs Xbox/PS3? The Wii is being Apple...

    The iPad is designed for everybody in mind really, especially grandmas, it's so simple to use and that's the point of it really. It's an expensive toy, but it's the only kind of toy available in the market right now. Same as the Wii... In a year or so, there will be other gadgets like the iPad and by then, the iPad sale will slow down a bit.

    See what happens to the tablets suppose to come out around the time of the iPad launch? None of them made it to the mass market... I really wanted that Notion Ink's Adam, but you know what? It never came out... A lot of people waiting for a gadget like that went with the iPad instead. I don't have an iPad, but I do want one :)

    Peace!

    2.8.2010 09:53 #3

  • Mez

    LOOOOOZERS!

    M$ only reacts to the market place. They never have had any creativity. Now I doubt that they have enough substance to compete with small aggressive agile companies. They build things like Zunes.

    2.8.2010 14:14 #4

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