Microsoft Corporation Is Bringing a New Member to its Surface Family

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Apple for years has had control of the hardware and software of their computers, and despite the claims that it "just works," a visit to the Apple support website shows that they still have as much, or as little, customer problems with their systems as Microsoft or any other.

 

But having Microsoft out of the hardware business, in direct competition with their traditional PC system manufacturers/suppliers, has come to an end. Before MS only made the software and then a game console. Their first foray into tablets, the Surface 10.6" RT, a mirror of the iPad that used a cell phone OS that ran on a quad core Nvidia Tegra 3 of the ARM architecture, as opposed to the Intel x86-64 architecture and therefore shipped with Windows RT, which was written for the ARM architecture. The Surface 2 had the Tegra 4 but the only success they had was when they produced the x86 - 64 Surface Pro series. That success was surprising to some but many still think the Surface tablets are iPad cellphone processors instead of the full Windows x86 systems they actually are. Then with the Surface 3 MS finally produced an Atom x86 full PC using the cool running Braswell Atom X7 processor. This to me is the superior tablet but it is an 10.8" size instead of the more successful 11.6" Surface Pro 3 and 4 that use processors that require cooling fans. The Atom x7 SoC (Processor) quad core needs no cooling fan and so runs longer and cooler than the i3, i5, i7 chipsets.

 

It is my opinion that they missed a bet by not producing a thinner 11.6" Surface with the Atom x7 SoCs to compete with the lower end tablets.

 

They are rumored to be coming out with a Surface Phone, which will be high end and aimed at Enterprise and crazy early adopters like me. However they just today announced they are making a Microsoft branded All In One desktop soon!

 

Many will think that won't affect the current hardware manufacturers like Dell, HP, ASUS, Acer etc., however, this article says differently and after reading it I agree. In a couple of years or so it may be much more difficult to find a new or recent desktop or tablet to run Linux on. If all the lower end manufacturers are driven out by decreasing profit margins the Linux folks may have issues with the costs of hardware in the future.

 

From The Motley Fool:

 

Excerpt:

 

"Say hello to the Surface All-in-One.

 

According to a report from DIGITIMES, software giant Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) is planning to add yet another product category to its growing Surface line of products: an all-in-one desktop PC.

 

Microprocessor giant Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) has been very bullish on the all-in-one desktop form factor for quite some time. At the company's investor meeting last year, Intel cited stationary and portable all-in-one desktops as an interesting opportunity.

 

So, is Microsoft entering the all-in-one game a good idea? Or is it an ill-conceived notion? Let's take a closer look.

 

Probably a good move for Microsoft

 

I suspect that with this all-in-one, Microsoft is going to follow the same playbook that it has followed with the Surface Pro and Surface Book product lines: Build a very high quality, no-compromises halo product to compete directly with Apple's highly successful iMac lineup.

 

Such a device should enable incremental revenue for the software giant, although given Microsoft's sheer size and revenue scale, it isn't the sort of thing that's likely to move the needle.

 

It's likely to be much more important as a product that will further the Surface and, by extension, Microsoft brands. Additionally, such a device can serve as a vehicle by which Microsoft can introduce new hardware and software features. In order to not be left behind, the various Windows-based PC makers would likely be compelled to implement those same features in their own systems.

Bad news for traditional PC makers

The big issue with Microsoft entering the all-in-one market, even if it is with a very premium priced product, is that this only serves to further take revenue from the company's partners.

 

The PC market hasn't been in good shape for a while as customers' upgrade cycles have lengthened and as customers shift more of their computing needs to ultra-mobile devices like smartphones and tablets.

 

One way that PC makers have tried to cope with the industrywide PC unit declines has been to try to sell pricier, higher-margin products to boost profitability. They have also invested in developing specialty products to address sub-segments of the market that are actually growing, such as gaming.

 

With a potential Surface all-in-one, Microsoft will not only take share from the traditional PC makers, but it will likely take high-end system share. This means that the revenue/gross profit impact on the PC makers should be greater than the unit share impact.

 

Can the PC makers respond?"

 

The rest of the article goes on to answer that here: http://www.fool.com/investing/2016/07/01/microsoft-corporation-is-bringing-a-new-member-to.aspx