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Microsoft’s iPad attack: If tablets are 'easy' why was the Surface a flop?
Back-biting is never a good look, says Joe Minihane.
This week’s blistering attack
by Microsoft’s vice president of communications Frank Shaw on Apple’s
decision to release the new iWork for free, and by extension its new
iPad Air, shows an astonishing level of hubris.
In a blog post that appeared just hours after Tim Cook had gazumped Microsoft and Nokia’s announcements of new Windows Phones and a new Lumia tablet, Shaw tore into Apple’s move.
According to the Big M’s man, it showed that the ‘reality distortion field’ of an Apple event had extended beyond Cupertino, suggesting the coverage of the decision to free iWork was disproportionate.
This is always a complaint of companies who feel they’ve been treated unfairly by the media, when in fact they’ve been releasing products that have simply failed to capture the imagination of tech’s hardcore or the general public.
But beyond Shaw’s complaints about iWork, it’s his comments about Microsoft Surface that are particularly interesting.
He describes the tablet as a “single, simple, affordable device that helps you both lean in and kick back”.
Surface may well let you ‘lean in and kick back’. But the simple fact is that it has been an unmitigated disaster for Microsoft.
It had to write down $900 million to cover the cost of the device, making just $853 million from sales up to July.
There’s still no official word on how many were sold, even if the tech giant claims sales doubled in the most recent quarter.
This failure to reveal numbers means the slate has been a flop, make no mistake about that.
If it had been a success, Steve Ballmer would have been shouting from the rooftops.
Shaw’s assertion that “helping folks kill time on a tablet is relatively easy. Give them books, music, videos and games, and they’ll figure out the rest. Pretty much all tablets do that,” is also hilarious.
In a blog post that appeared just hours after Tim Cook had gazumped Microsoft and Nokia’s announcements of new Windows Phones and a new Lumia tablet, Shaw tore into Apple’s move.
According to the Big M’s man, it showed that the ‘reality distortion field’ of an Apple event had extended beyond Cupertino, suggesting the coverage of the decision to free iWork was disproportionate.
This is always a complaint of companies who feel they’ve been treated unfairly by the media, when in fact they’ve been releasing products that have simply failed to capture the imagination of tech’s hardcore or the general public.
But beyond Shaw’s complaints about iWork, it’s his comments about Microsoft Surface that are particularly interesting.
He describes the tablet as a “single, simple, affordable device that helps you both lean in and kick back”.
Surface may well let you ‘lean in and kick back’. But the simple fact is that it has been an unmitigated disaster for Microsoft.
It had to write down $900 million to cover the cost of the device, making just $853 million from sales up to July.
There’s still no official word on how many were sold, even if the tech giant claims sales doubled in the most recent quarter.
This failure to reveal numbers means the slate has been a flop, make no mistake about that.
If it had been a success, Steve Ballmer would have been shouting from the rooftops.
Shaw’s assertion that “helping folks kill time on a tablet is relatively easy. Give them books, music, videos and games, and they’ll figure out the rest. Pretty much all tablets do that,” is also hilarious.
Microsoft’s acquisition of Nokia will not affect other mobile makers’
Windows Phone plans. That’s according to Big M executive vice president
of operating systems, Terry Myerson, who says the tie-up will help
build the third place OS’s market share.
Vine appears to be going all out in its attempts to stop Instagram’s nascent video platform from taking off.
Yet another render of the next iPhone is doing the rounds today, based on what we think we know about Apple's next handset. 
