| Developers: | Microsoft |
| Date of the premiere of the system: | 2021/09/23 |
| Technology: | Office equipment, Tablet computers and smartphones |
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This was originally called a touch desktop with a multi-touch interface, developed and introduced by Microsoft in 2007. In June 2012, with the launch of the Surface tablet computer, the desktop was renamed Microsoft PixelSense.
2016: Launch of the Surface rental service
On July 12, 2016, at the WPC 2016 conference, Microsoft announced a service for renting its Surface tablets. The initiative is aimed at promoting the company's mobile devices in the corporate sector.
The project, called "Surface as a Service," involves a leasing scheme that will allow companies to hire Surface Book, Surface Pro 4 and Surface 3 devices for a certain monthly fee along with a subscription to Windows 10 and Office 365.
The cost of the service is not called, as well as details regarding its work. It is known that the rental of Microsoft tablets will be offered by partners of the company participating in the Cloud Solution Provider program and having the status of authorized distributors Surface (Surface Authorized Distributor). The program will first be launched in Europe, and subsequently it will be distributed around the world.
"Surface as a service" will provide companies with access to the latest Microsoft tablet models and updates to Windows 10 and Office 365.
According to TechCrunch, Microsoft's tablet business is fast-growing: in 2015, the company's revenue from sales of this electronics was measured at $1 billion per quarter, although a year earlier it was the same for the whole year.[1]
In order to promote Surface in the corporate market in the fall of 2015, Microsoft began to actively attract resellers. They, for example, became Dell and HP Inc., and in July 2016 IBM joined them. The latter will distribute Surface tablets equipped with their pre-installed analytical solutions to customers in the financial markets, etc.
In addition, Booz Allen Hamilton agreed to promote Microsoft tablets. It will offer devices with its own software to state and medical institutions.
2015
Microsoft reports 5 thousand tablet resellers
On October 20, 2015, Microsoft announced a significant increase in the number of partners selling Surface tablets. Thanks to this, the American company was able to get several large contracts.
As the director of division of release of Microsoft Surface Kirill Belikov told the VentureBeat edition, by October 20, 2015 the number of resellers of tablets of the company exceeded 5 thousand though in July they were about 150.
According to Belikov, a large number of intermediaries in the distribution channel of laptops will increase sales of new Surface Pro 4 tablets and Surface Book laptops, especially in the public and educational sectors.
A Microsoft representative named 13 large companies that ordered the purchase of Surface Pro 4 for their employees. Среди них — Carlyle Group, BNY Mellon, USI Insurance Services, Berkshire Hathaway Automotive (BHA), Land ‘O Lakes, AstraZeneca, Wessanen, Covanta, Clifford Chance и Global Fund.
According to David Austin, technical director of the BHA auto dealer network, Apple offers good devices, but they are not easy to integrate into the IT infrastructure of a company using Microsoft products. BHA managers will use Surface tablets in 80 dealerships to visually demonstrate to customers the capabilities of cars and options for them, make calculations, etc.
Microsoft does not disclose tablet sales. According to Gartner analysts, in the first half of 2015, about 1.5 million Surface Pro units were sold, significantly improving the result of the year ago. The publication DigiTimes, citing its industry sources, writes that Microsoft increased the planned delivery of tablets by 60% - from 300 to 500 thousand per month during the fourth quarter of 2015. At the end of the year, the American company can release up to 5 million Surface.
Kirill Belikov claims that the demand for a new Surface Book laptop in a business environment is "quite high." [2]
Lenovo refused to promote Microsoft tablets
In mid-October 2015, it became known that Microsoft offered Lenovo to become a reseller of its Surface tablets. However, the Chinese company refused this cooperation due to competition with Microsoft.
During the Canalys Channels Forum (Barcelona, October 6-8, 2015), which was attended by representatives of IT vendors and distributors, Lenovo President and Chief Operating Officer Gianfranco Lanci said that more than a year ago, Microsoft management offered him a partnership in which the Chinese company would have to promote Face 3 Tablet.
"I refused, because I see no reason for us to sell their product as competitors," said Lianci.
He also added that Lenovo and Microsoft are "partners in some things," but in other areas they compete. In the fall of 2015, Microsoft entered the notebook market by releasing the Surface Book model, and it has been offering tablets since 2012.
Unlike Lenovo, other major computer manufacturers - HP and Dell - have agreed to promote Microsoft Surface devices in the corporate sector. However, apparently, they are not enthusiastic about this cooperation. There in Barcelona, Dion Weisler, vice president of HP's computer and printer division, who will become head of HP Inc. On November 1, 2015, stated the following:
"We have customers we've been working with for years, and we just don't want this relationship to move into a competitive relationship, so we agreed to participate in Microsoft's partner plan."
Dion Wysler noted that HP managers are not provided with rewards for selling Microsoft tablets, and HP will only sell devices and support their users. At the same time, this business is not paramount for the company, HP's top manager emphasized.
Microsoft Surface Pro 4 flagship tablet announcement
On October 6, 2015, the official announcement of the flagship tablet computer Microsoft Surface Pro 4 took place. It features advanced technical filling and a thin body.
The Microsoft Surface Pro 4 is equipped with a 12.3-inch screen with a resolution of 2736 x 1824 pixels (267 ppi), PixelSense technology and a 0.4 mm Gorilla Glass protective glass. More details here.
HP and Dell become Microsoft tablet resellers in the enterprise market
On September 8, 2015, Microsoft announced a partnership with its compatriots Dell and HP in the corporate market. As part of the partnership, computer manufacturers become resellers of Microsoft Surface tablets.
According to Microsoft's official blog, starting in October 2015, Dell will begin selling Surface Pro tablets and accessories for them to business customers who can purchase devices on the manufacturer's website.[3]
In addition to selling gadgets, Dell will provide technical and warranty support to customers. The financial terms of the cooperation were not disclosed.
According to Kirk Schell, Vice President and General Manager of Corporate Customers at Dell, the agreement with Microsoft is unusual for his company, since Dell, as a rule, does not promote non-native devices. At the same time, the benefits of such a partnership are obvious: large companies will be able to order and implement Surface tablets along with Dell servers and personal computers, Bloomberg notes.
According to Brian Hall, general manager of Surface, Microsoft is not a manufacturer of enterprise equipment, but large customers have expressed a desire to purchase thousands of tablets for their employees, setting one condition: Microsoft should offer the same level of support and service that Dell, for example, has.
Although Microsoft earned $3.9 billion on tablets last fiscal year, closed at the end of June 2015, the company's market share in these devices remains small. In this regard, the software giant decided to focus on the sale of Surface in the corporate sector. Dell, by the way, also works here, offering hybrid models based on Windows and Android.
HP, Accenture (Aksencher) and Avanade also joined the Surface Pro promotion program in the business environment. Details of their cooperation with Microsoft are not disclosed.[4]
Increase Surface distribution channel by 30 times
July 24, 2015 it became known that Microsoft it decided to increase by 30 times the distribution channel of its tablets, aimed primarily at corporate users. This was reported by CRN with reference to a report formed by the corporation in form 8-K for the American Securities and Exchange Commission (USA U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission).
This document contains the following words from Microsoft Chief Operating Officer Kevin Turner:
"We are expanding opportunities for more partners selling Surface. In the coming months, the number of resellers around the world will grow from 150 to more than 4,500. "
Thus, Microsoft tablets will distribute 3,000% more partners of the software giant than before. For the first time, the revision of the Surface product distribution strategy was announced at the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference (WPC) 2015 in mid-July. Then the company did not specify the scale of the updated partner program.
According to official data from Microsoft, the corporation's revenue from sales of Surface tablets amounted to $888 million in the fourth financial quarter, closed on June 30, 2015. On an annualized basis, this revenue grew by 117% due to high demand for the Surface Pro 3 and the launch of the new Surface 3 model.[5]
Microsoft does not specify whether tablets bring profit to the company, while on Wall Street they are sure that this market is definitely unprofitable for the software giant.
"We consider a mistake redistribution of means towards hardware business, considering lack of a margin in it and strategic importance for Microsoft", - the analyst of Jefferies & Co John DiFucci told.
Meanwhile, according to his colleague Mark Moerdler of Sanford C. Bernstein & Co., Microsoft is unlikely to abandon tablets, since investors will even be satisfied that this business will bring zero or minimal profit.
In pursuit of profit, Microsoft has focused its tablet business on the corporate sector, where hybrid mobile devices are in quite high demand, capable of simultaneously performing the functions of tablets and laptops.
2013: Start of sales in Russia
On April 4, 2013, about six months later than in the United States, the Microsoft Surface tablet went on sale in Russia exclusively on M.Video and Euroset networks. At the time of launch, only one version of the device became available to customers - Surface RT.
The cost of a tablet with 32 GB of memory, according to the M.Video website, at the time of launch was 20,999 rubles, and with 64 GB of memory - 23,990 rubles. On the Microsoft website itself, it was mentioned that the price of the device starts from 19,990 rubles.
To the tablet, you can buy a Touch Cover keyboard, which is also released by Microsoft. With it, the version of Surface RT with 32 GB of memory costs 23,990 rubles, and 64 GB of memory - 27,990 rubles.
2012
Microsoft Surface Tablet Presentation
In June 2012, Microsoft introduced its new products - Surface tablets. Prices for Microsoft devices at that time did not announce. One of the reasons for this could be the already announced Nexus 7 and the expected iPad mini: a delay in announcing prices could be beneficial for corporations to adjust them after the release of competitors' devices. Microsoft plans to sell "several million" new tablets in 2013.
There are two versions of the tablet: Surface RT, running the OS version for Windows 8 RT tablets, and Surface Pro based on the standard version of Windows 8.
The model running Windows 8 RT is enclosed in a 9.3 mm thick magnesium alloy case, and its mass is 676 grams. A feature of the case is a support integrated into the lower part of the rear panel.
The device is based on the single-crystal NVIDIA system (most probably use of SoC Tegra 3) and completed with the touch ClearType HD display (1366 x 768 points) with a diagonal of 10.6 inch over which the tempered Gorilla Glass 2 glass is used. The product configuration includes a Wi-Fi adapter, a microSD card slot, a USB 2.0 port, and two cameras. The amount of non-volatile memory can be 32 or 64 GB, and the battery capacity is 31.5 Wh.
The Surface Pro is equipped with an x86 processor. The device has a display of the same size as Surface RT, with a resolution of 1920x1080 pixels - Full HD. The weight of the Surface Pro is 903 grams, and it is available with 64 GB and 128 GB of internal memory.
The Surface configuration on the Intel platform includes a 42Wh battery pack, a Wi-Fi module, a microSD card slot compatible with microSDXC media, USB 3.0 and Mini DisplayPort connectors. Nonvolatile memory is twice as large as the previous model - 64 or 128 GB. However, there are more mass-dimensional parameters: the thickness of the Surface running Windows 8 Pro is 13.5 mm, and the mass reaches 903 grams.
Simultaneously with the display of tablets, representatives of the company demonstrated the most important accessory for them - the covers of Microsoft Touch Cover and Type Cover. On the outside, they are no different from a number of other modern "smart" covers, but it is worth opening them as the covers turn into a keyboard equipped with a touch panel. Keypads are not attached to the tablet body without magnets. The difference between Touch Cover and Type Cover is that in the first case, data entry is provided by touching the keys, and in the second - by pressing the keys. For Surface on the Intel platform, another accessory, the pen, will optionally be available.
Production problems
In July 2012, it became known that Microsoft is experiencing difficulties with the mass production of Microsoft Surface tablets.
The problem is related to the limited capacity of production of Microsoft Surface packages from magnesium alloy with VaporMg surface treatment technology. This technology is designed to improve the tactile feel of working with the device.
According to DigiTimes, initially Microsoft planned to use solid cases of magnesium and aluminum alloy in Microsoft Surface. However, faced with a low output volume, which could be provided by the "second-order manufacturer" not named in the publication, she switched to the use of purely magnesium cases created using VaporMg technology. Apparently, in the end, the change of technology could not solve the problem with the mass production of cases. According to ZDNet, this jeopardizes the company's plans to release "millions" of Surface tablets this year.
ZDNet recalls that Apple, in a similar situation, faced with the need to control the supply chain of components for iPad, went to directly purchase aluminum from mining enterprises in Australia.
DigiTimes adds that the transition to magnesium alloy cases will lead to a change in the weight of the plate: the magnesium and aluminum alloy from which it was originally planned to be made weighs less than the pure magnesium alloy that is used in cases now. The publication did not specify the difference in weight. According to official information, the weight of the tablet is 676 and 903 g, depending on the filling.
Acer warns Microsoft against failures
The leadership of the Taiwanese computer manufacturer Acer warned Microsoft against possible failures associated with entering the tablet market, the Financial Times reported.
Acer CEO and Chairman J.T. Wang literally said that the planned release of Microsoft's own tablet computer called Surface in the fall of 2012 will have "negative consequences for the global ecosystem" of PCs.
The head of Acer believes that Microsoft should not take up the production of tablets, as she does not know how to do this. As a result, corporate failures can discredit the entire industry
Microsoft Surface, which will be on sale in October 2012 at the same time as the release of Windows 8, will be a direct competitor to products such as Acer Iconia and HP TouchPad. "We advise: think again. Think twice. This can have ambiguous consequences for the industry and a negative reaction. This is not the area of activity where you know how to work, so once again reflect on this, "the publication quotes Wang's words addressed to Microsoft.
Over the past two decades, Microsoft and personal computer manufacturers have arrived in a peculiar state of symbiosis. Campbell Kan, president of the Acer PC, said in plain text that his company was considering an adequate response to Surface's output. "If Microsoft enters the hardware market, what do we have to do? Should we still rely on the Microsoft software platform, or should we also consider alternatives?, "He said.
2007: Microsoft Surface Desktop
The debut of the Surface desktop took place in 2007, when such computers were first sold to American companies such as AT&T and various major players in the fields of hospitality and entertainment, the financial sector and medical care. The cost of one such computer for commercial use in 2011 was $7.6 thousand.
According to Microsoft representatives, the company subsequently had about 120 partners from 11 countries that are developing applications for Surface.
Example of implementation: The American company Harrah's Entertainment (HE), which owns several casinos, talked about how it introduced Surface computers into its activities. Together with the purchase of several systems, HE developed 8 applications, among which were Flirt, to communicate with guests behind the bar, and Mixologist, with which guests could independently compose cocktails for themselves, which were then mixed by a bartender. In February 2008, a 120-day pilot launch of these applications and Surface-systems (a total of 6 pieces) took place at the Rio Hotel & Casino bar. The Flirt app, according to HE representatives, instantly became a hit among bar visitors, and Mixologist began to make a profit. As for specific figures, both the volume of sales in the bar and the number of visitors after the implementation of Surface-systems increased by 19%.
In June 2012, with the launch of the Surface tablet computer, the desktop was renamed Microsoft PixelSense.
Links
Notes
- ↑ Microsoft debuts `Surface as a Service` program aimed at getting devices into the enterprise
- ↑ [Microsoft’s Surface now has an army of 5,000 resellers and a permanent enterprise trade-in program]
- ↑ New Surface Enterprise Initiative Will Further Windows 10 Adoption
- ↑ Microsoft Says Dell, HP Will Sell Surface to Big Companies
- ↑ Surface to be handed to more than 4,500 resellers
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