I do appreciate Paul’s more realistic take on most things but he’s wrong about Surface. Google effectively pulling out of the laptop/tablet hardware game is just more proof that Surface is indeed special and successful. The amount of people that have switched from ThinkPads or even MacBooks to Surface is really surprising. There’s something else that should be considered: Intel has been shipping 14nm chips on the same Skylake architecture since 2015! 2015!! This 14nm Skylake platform is seriously outdated at this point and it’s really harming Surface (because they’re being compared to iPads). This is not Microsoft’s fault, it’s Intel’s fault. When Intel finally starts making 10nm chips (and on a new architecture) and Microsoft includes USB-C ports on the Surface Pro, we could see Surface make serious inroads on Apple and ThinkPads marketshare. The Surface team aren’t lucky, they know what they’re doing and that’s why the products are successful in such a difficult and competitive market space. Even with all the money in the world and a beloved brand, Google couldn’t compete in this high-end hardware space, but Surface can. That says a lot…
Surface is a top 5 PC maker in the US, I see a Surface Pro almost every day…
All things considered (and now with even Google throwing in the towel on laptops/tablets) we need to start giving Surface the respect it deserves.
provision l-3
<p><em>"</em><em style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Google effectively pulling out of the laptop/tablet hardware game is just more proof that Surface is indeed special and successful"</em></p><p><br></p><p>I'd love to see the argument that ties Google dropping hardware to specifically to Surface. </p><p><br></p><p><em>"</em><em style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">The amount of people that have switched from ThinkPads or even MacBooks to Surface is really surprising."</em></p><p><br></p><p>Can you post the numbers and the source? </p><p><br></p><p><br></p><p>FWIW, I think the Surface has been a success but fine your hyperbole to be a bit much. </p>
provision l-3
<blockquote><em><a href="#412083">In reply to Bdsrev:</a></em></blockquote><p>That is exactly what you implication was. </p>
provision l-3
<blockquote><em><a href="#412299">In reply to Bdsrev:</a></em></blockquote><p>mmhmmmm …. you going to answer the second question in my post?</p>
Bats
<p>LOL…this makes no sense whatsoever. LOL…..Surface is special? It's not even the #1 computer in the market. Last I read, Microsoft's hardware only occupies 3% marketshare. How is that special? That means 97% of PC owners chose anything but a Surface computer. I believe that's 4th quarter 2018…..which is even a DROP of a percentage point from 3Q 2018. How is that special? That's not even in the top 5 of PC Manufacturers. Even if they ARE in the top 5 , it means nothing. LOL….reminds me of the time when (lol) Thurrott kept calling Windows Phone #3 smartphone in the world, when they had 2% marketshare while Android had over 80% and Apple had 10%. </p><p><br></p><p>Being a TOP PC Maker is nothing really. All they do is make PCs. Heck, I can do that if I really wanted to. SO could you. What really matters is how many people in the world are actually buying the computer and using it. </p><p><br></p><p>Bottomline, Surface computers are NOT POPULAR. They are just not.</p><p><br></p><p> Second point I would like to make is, and it's quite obvious, the lesson of the 1980's was not learned here in this post. Hardware is not where the game is played. If it were, we would be in the midst of an Apple Dynasty. The game is in content creation. That is where Microsoft won in the 80's and Google in this decade. It's not in the hardware. It's in the "software" or the "code." It has always been there. </p><p><br></p><p>Every spec that you mentioned in this post, believe no one cares. Go flag a person from the street and ask him what his/her opinion on 14nm chips. They are either going to laugh, run away, or pull out their smartphone and take a selfie with you. One thing is for sure, they are not going to pull out a Surface computer at all, from their person.</p><p><br></p><p><br></p>