Media around the world seemed to get carried away last week with Steve Ballmer’s letter to Microsoft’s shareholders.
“There will be times when we build specific devices for specific purposes, as we have chosen to do with Xbox and the recently announced Microsoft Surface,” Ballmer wrote. And then I had people around me saying stuff like: Oh, look, Microsoft’s going Apple’s way (somehow indicating that Apple is so superior that even its long-time rival wants to copy the business model).
I interpreted it a bit differently. For starters, MS has developed its own products in the past, so it’s not exactly new to be designing its own hardware. But the key difference is that MS has always been more of a software-and-services company than Apple is. Apple designs its own devices and made software to match them. Microsoft provided software and services that ran on generic platforms. The notable exceptions were Microsoft’s Zune (their iPod competitor that never really took off) and their Xbox console. There was also the enterprise-oriented Surface table (not tablet), that was a huge table with a touchscreen top.
Now however, it seems MS is mixing its Xbox and Windows philosophy, taking a leaf out of Apple’s book. So Windows Phone 8, Windows RT and Windows 8 will still run on third-party tablets, phones and PCs, but MS will also have products of its own design and branding like Apple does. So they’re becoming more of a devices-and-software/services company. Another key difference is that Apple’s SoCs use custom ARM designs, unlike the ones Microsoft will use for the Surface RT, that use Nvidia'sTegra 3 T30.
So they’ll still sell MS Office, Windows Server, Azure, Visual Studio etc. Just that the Surface tablets (and who knows, maybe a Surface phone too, someday) will add to the Xbox 360 and software sales.
This brings me to the Surface RT, whose price has just been announced.
With only 6 days to for the Windows 8 and Surface RT launch, pre-orders have opened up and pricing has been announced. So it’s $500 for the 32GB version of the Surface RT, and $600 bucks for the Surface with the keyboard-integrated cover included. That’s sort of a let-down. Factor in the proprietary HD video output connector…and things start looking expensive. But then Microsoft’s secret weapon is the bundled Office for RT, which is free. So how good a deal is it?
So it’ll be available in 8 countries at launch day. India isn't one of them. How much will it cost here? I can only speculate. If you buy it (the 32GB one) from the US or Hong Kong, it'll cost about `27k without the cover, and 32k with it. That’s an awesome deal, if you compare it with other tablets. Add a thousand more for Canada. But in Europe, Australia and China, it’ll be for 33k without the cover and 38 to 41k with it. That’s where it becomes silly. At this price (`35k+) you’re neck deep into laptop territory. So the best (point of compromise) price for India? `27k without the cover.
To be honest, it should have been $550 with the cover and HD Video connector for the 32GB version. That would have been a killer.
Both the Surface RT and Surface Pro have me excited, and I think we’ve lots to look forward to in the coming months.