In 2018, Microsoft released the new Surface Go, Headphones, and updated several of their products. While it wasn’t a perfect year for the brand, it was far more positive than negative.
Even though one analyst thought Microsoft would exit the hardware business in 2019, that’s simply not the case. The company has a number of announcements lined up for 2019 and the brand is stronger than ever.
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On Instagram earlier today, Panos Panay shared an image of one of the first prototypes of the Surface Pro. The device isn’t really a device at all, but pieces of plastic and cardboard taped together.
Panay writes:
This is the first Surface model the team envisioned seven years ago. We had plastic, cardboard, duct tape, and a vision for something great. We didn’t know exactly where this vision would take us, but we believed.
We often forget that the release of the first generation Pro was a disaster for Microsoft but because of the resilience of the Surface team to overcome internal and external conflict, this helped them build the hero of the PC industry. If you are interested in the backstory of how the company built the billion-dollar brand, I wrote a book detailing the history.
As we march towards and into 2019, look for Surface to explore adding more peripherals to the lineup and of course, updating their current products as well. While the past may have been uncertain at times, with the hardware nearly being re-branded twice, the future is looking bright as the company has finally found the right formula for hardware and software.
Bats
<p>Hero of the PC industry? Hero? At 4%? After 6 years? LOL…..4%……6 years…..and it's the "HERO" of the PC industry? If I am not mistaken isn't that 4% only counts for shipping and not actual sales? I remember a year or two ago, Sony revealed how many PS4s were sold. Microsoft's response was that was how many Xbox Ones were shipped. </p><p><br></p><p>All of that….and Microsoft is the "HERO" of the PC Industry that is still declining? LOL…is Brad Samms on the other side of the world where New Years already happened and he's drunk?</p><p><br></p><p>As for Microsoft exiting the Surface line,…..didn't Sony do that with Vaio a few years ago? The Vaio brand still exists, if I am not mistaken, but owned by another company? I remember IBM were still refreshing their Thinkpad line of laptops before they sold it to Lenovo. IMO, the some analysts see a loser for Microsoft with Surface. The fact is, their marketshare in the PC Industry is so small, that it's practically almost invisible. I guess their thinking is (or was), why would Microsoft split their resouces over a (for the lack of a better word) loser when they can focus on their bread and butter….the cloud?</p>