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Rumor: Microsoft’s Secret Plan for Surface Domination

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Rumor: Microsoft’s Secret Plan for Surface Domination

With the understanding that some of this information must be placed in the unconfirmed category, I’ve heard from two sources now that Microsoft has an interesting goal for its well-received Surface tablets: 50 percent of all Windows tablet sales in the coming year.

That bit may seem somewhat extreme, but here’s a shocker you may have missed: Microsoft already achieved this goal in Q1 2013, when Surface devices were indeed 50 percent of all Windows tablets sold. Of course, as the firm’s PC maker partners pick up the slack and start shipping decent devices of their own, one might expect Microsoft’s market share to slide. Oddly enough, that’s not what Microsoft expects: It really does believe that Surface can maintain 50 percent market share going forward (again, among Windows tablets.)

Now we come to the rumor bit.

According to a single source who has proven reliable in recent weeks, Microsoft has specific Surface goals for fiscal year 2014, which starts July 1. These are:

Surface sales. Microsoft expects to sell 25 million Surface devices in FY2014. By comparison, it sold less than 1 million units in Q1 of CY2013, so this will require some changes. (See below.)

Enterprise tablets. Microsoft expects to become the number one enterprise tablets provider in FY 2014.

Retail tablet sales. Microsoft expects to become the number two provider of tablets at retail in FY 2014.

Education. Microsoft plans to at least bid for every available education tablet opportunity in FY 2014.

Distribution. Microsoft expects Surface to become the top tablet choice of its distribution partners, which will drive Surface sales through resellers.

To achieve these lofty goals, Microsoft will pump up its marketing, with FY 2014 advertising priorities focused on “first party [i.e. Surface] hardware to drive demand and highlight the family of devices and services from Microsoft.” The Surface family will of course expand this year to include at least one more device, the 8-inch tablet I exclusively revealed earlier this year, and perhaps others. The internal budget? Reportedly $4.4 billion.

And Microsoft will dramatically expand the availability of Surface over the next year. In FY 2014, it will add Columbia, Poland, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, South Africa, India, and Malaysia to the list of countries that sell Surface tablets. This will give it near-ubiquitous coverage in North America, Europe, Asia, and Oceana, with only South America and Africa having wide gaps.

“Surface success is a top company priority,” internal Microsoft documentation notes, in “consumer and commercial, retail and broader, ARM and x86, growth and profit, and devices and accessories.”

I feel pretty good about this one but, again: Until I can confirm some of the details, it’s a rumor.
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Interesting

I think it is a legitimate theory. IOS /Android tablets are finding the integration to the workplace a hard nut to crack. The RT, and more so the Pro, have a smaller nut to break through. Credit to MSFT for sticking with their vision. I find the Surface amazing and it is still in it's infancy.
 
Lol, and I expect to marry Kate Upton. Actually that is an unfair comparison. Marrying Kate Upton is more likely.

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I don't know about 25million units, but I would not be surprised to see MS dominate the Windows tablet market - especially if they expand their offerings with smaller and larger screens. With the exception of Lenovo and maybe Acer, the competition thus far has been pretty weak. I bought one of the Dells because it was cheap, and have not been impressed. We've had the higher end Dell tablets and HPs in the office for evaluation and I have not been wowed by either. The Surface (RT and PRO) is a top notch piece of hardware. Their touch/type covers are innovative. If they can continue to build on what they have started, this could be very successful. They are going to HAVE to do something about getting apps into the market. They cant expect developers to jump on-board just because the market is there and its Windows. Its kind of a chicken-egg thing right now. People are hesitant to buy the tablets because there aren't many apps, but developers wont support it because they don't have market share. MS needs to prime the pump with all that cash they're supposedly sitting on and get things rolling. They've done a decent job getting app support for WP7/8 (thanks to some help from Nokia as well), they need to continue that kind of effort. I really think their survival depends on it.
 
and thanks Mitchellvii for the Kate Upton post. Good luck. If you get a date with her, bring her a Surface tablet and you'll be all set!
 
These rumors are so unrealistic they should win a price for silliness.

The "50 percent of all Windows tablet sales" accomplishment is a booby prize thanks to the lack of RT and Win8 uptake by manufacturers and consumers. Microsoft's goal for Surface was to set a standard, not to steal sales from partners. I'm sure they'd prefer to own 10% of the market because so many people are buying Windows tablets from other manufacturers.

For all the other rumors, replace "plans to" and "expects to" with "wishes they could".

For me, the only hint of credulity comes when I consider how misguided Microsoft's marketing efforts have been so far. In that context, it just might be possible that they are deluding themselves about what's possible in the next year and a half. But that doesn't make it any more possible, of course.
 
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