Microsoft kept PC partners in dark about Surface
(Reuters) - Microsoft Corp kept its personal computer partners largely in the dark about its plans to launch a competing tablet computer, with some long-time collaborators learning of the new gadget only days before its unveiling, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
Context & Ripple Effects
Microsoft’s tablet posture had been unclear since its earlier iPad-response strategy, making Surface a sharper departure from a software-only role. A day before the unveiling, an analyst cast the product as a challenge to an underperforming PC industry, not merely another Windows device.
First-order effects
- PC makers learned, according to Reuters’ sources, that Microsoft was entering the tablet market with Surface while they were still preparing their own Windows hardware plans.
- Microsoft assumes responsibility for the product design, manufacturing, and retail execution that its OEM partners had traditionally handled.
Second-order effects
- OEMs must weigh continued dependence on Windows against the risk that Microsoft’s own hardware competes for the same tablet buyers and retail attention.
- Surface gives Microsoft a direct benchmark for Windows-device design, raising pressure on PC partners to differentiate their tablets rather than rely on the platform alone.
Third-order effects
- If Microsoft sustains first-party hardware, the Windows ecosystem shifts from a clean platform-and-licensee division toward a model in which the platform owner is also a device competitor.
- The episode points to tablet competition being decided increasingly by integrated hardware and software execution, rather than operating-system availability alone.
The trend: Microsoft’s Surface launch is an early test of whether a software platform owner can use first-party hardware to set the pace for its own device ecosystem.