spro 2 rumors

[demandarin]

I agree Chris. They doing like Google is with their nexus devices. You are also correct in that they still sold a few million. They overestimated last time around in addition to the wrong angle on advertising.

You can bet this 2nd generation will sell alot more than their first go around.

 

[chrisleung]

I hope their marketing team gets their act together. Naming it the Surface 2 and Surface 2 Pro is already way better than this "RT" business.

 

[oion]

2. Microsoft is using the Surface strategically to spice up competition and innovation in the Windows 8 tablet space. There are other manufacturers of tablet PCs that are running Windows 8, and by introducing its own tablet, Microsoft pressures other companies to further innovate. In other words, this is a game of creating a larger and more innovative Windows 8 tablet market.

What do you think?

Per this observation, a number of industry analysts have lent credence this strategy, for example here back in June, 2012:

Rather than complaining, PC makers ought to take note of what Microsoft has produced. It has one tablet—a 9 mm thick, 1.5 pounder—that will run on low-power ARM chips and arrive around October. The black device has beautiful, beveled edges; its shell is made of what Microsoft calls vapor-deposited magnesium, or VaporMg. (Brushed aluminum is so last year, Apple.) It also has a built-in kickstand. Best of all, the device comes with a cover that locks firmly in place, unlike Apple’s flimsy iPad protector, and which functions as a proper keyboard. Both the kickstand and cover-cum-keyboard seem such obvious ideas now that we’ve seen them, yet the great army of PC makers failed to think up anything so clever over the past two years.

Or this. Or this:

Microsoft is revving up in the hardware business, manufacturing what looks to be a high-quality Surface tablet based on Windows 8. Why? If it is seeking to reap giant profits in a hardware industry where fast and savvy firms have struggled, it is unlikely to succeed. But what if Surface is a way of demonstrating all that Windows 8 can do when it is tightly integrated with hardware, forcing other manufacturers to be as bold? Google did something similar with its early Android phone, the Nexus. The Nexus didn’t sell many units, but that was beside the point – it kickstarted Android phone makers. Microsoft is not relying on inertia to change its industry; it is providing both the Windows 8 carrot the Surface stick.

Did pissing off their manufacturing licensees pay off? I think it really did. A huge number of Windows RT/8 hybrids and the like were released late 2012 and this year and are still being slated. Even the haters must admit--a lot of press was glued to the Windows 8 release thanks to that "stirring of the pot" (or kicking the bees' nest, whatever). Microsoft needed to showcase Windows 8 in its proper environment--tablet and hybrid (not pure desktop)--and it did that just fine by goading their partners. Consider this: Even if the MS hardware products didn't sell well in the first year-ish, the other Windows 8 tablets and hybrids did, right? That means MS still wins.

If MS could fix their targeted marketing woes--and it seems they did by June 2013 with new commercial clips I saw on Youtube using real people with actual use cases (get rid of the stupid iPad one, who cares)--that should help. But still, if goading their partners to be more innovative to show off the OS is the strategy, MS still wins either way.

 

[EMINENT]

So I'm confused. You are actually arguing that there is nothing wrong with a design that just lost your company $1 BILLION dollars? And then you say anyone who blames HORRIFIC SALES on hardware problems is "failing to think"??? C'mon, you're joking right?

And now we find out that except for a few tweaks, the SP2 will basically be the SP all over again. And you can't see the monstrous fail in that? I have advice for you, stay away from criticizing other people's powers of deduction.

P.S., You mention that very few user reviews complain of a lack of backlit keyboard, but user reviews are written by people that bought the damned thing knowing it did not have a backlit keyboard. The millions of people that did NOT buy it for that very reason don't write user reviews.

Lol, I'm sorry but you are seriously cracking me up. Do you work for MS Product Development? I think you do.

Again, you are trying to argue that the SP's hardware design deficiencies were NOT the primary driver of the products complete failure in the marketplace? Please please stop pretending to be the smartest guy in the room when you insist on making such completely ridiculous statements.

Pretty much every reviewer who looked at the Surface Pro said, "This will fail..." Then the marketplace said, "This fails..." but YOU say oh no, both the reviewers and the marketplace are wrong. If only the ads were better, or the economy, or Windows 8 or whatever; anything but the real problem - the form factor is wrong for business. You are nothing more than a fanboy with your eyes closed to the realities. Again, get a job at MS, they seem to be filled with people just like you.


P.S., I didn't address your points? I blew your whole, "No user reviews complain about a lack of backlit keyboard" argument right off the page. Again, of course they don't because the people who did NOT buy the SP because it lacked a backlit keyboard don't write user reviews.

Anyway this is pointless. You clearly have a severely overblown opinion of your powers of business analysis. But when all the smoke clears there is only one fact we need to know. MS lost $1 BILLION DOLLARS of the Surface line and they are about to reintroduce basically the same thing again. We call that being stuck on stupid. Remember this is the same MS who actually thought their Surface ads were brilliant.

Surface 2 honestly had a shot at the right price point but if they are going to put a crap screen on there as rumored then no, that will fail too.

Well looks like the rumors are true and Microsoft has in fact lost their minds. The Surface Pro 2 will become a reality. It will also be a sales disaster.

1. Same size? Fail. Too small for a true hybrid device.
2. Battery in the keyboard? Nice idea but it will add an entire pound to the device making the SP as heavy as other hybrids which offer more ports and a backlit keyboard. Once the SP starts closing in on 3 pounds it loses one of its few advantages in the marketplace.
3. The docking station? Sounds like a hulking monstrosity to me. Probably overpriced too. Why bother with all these accessories? Just buy a true hybrid that doesn't need a docking station.
4. Haswell refresh. Good but hardly a reason to buy the SP 2 over the competition.
5. Ultra HD screen? Nope, fail. Even the freaking Note 10.1 is going ultra HD. Complete fail.
6. Adjustable kickstand? Well if you call just two options "adjustable".
7. No internal pen port? Massive fail.
8. For all intents and purposes the SP2 will look EXACTLY like the device no one wanted the first time.

SP2 will be a complete fail for the same reason SP was a fail, it's the wrong form factor for business. I bought the SP because it was the best tablet of its kind available at the time. Given the choice again today with the competing devices coming to market I would NEVER buy the Surface Pro 2.

Dumb MS, dumb.

Surface Pro isn't for everyone. This is the fail of most people spreading fud over their fail at research and self expectations. LOL @ people thinking a $500 ipad/android giant non-phone is a direct competitor.

You can leave and find someone else to eat your nonsense.

 

[minimojoman]

If the surface pro 2 is around the same price (1000$) how much will the original surface pro be?? If you were to sell your surface pro after the 2nd gen come out, how much do you think you could get for it? I am running the 8.1 preview and I think its horrible. Lots of bugs still. I hope that the final release is better! Of course my real gripe is battery life. Im hoping I can still sell my used SP for around 700 and upgrade to the SP2

 

[EMINENT]

If the surface pro 2 is around the same price (1000$) how much will the original surface pro be?? If you were to sell your surface pro after the 2nd gen come out, how much do you think you could get for it? I am running the 8.1 preview and I think its horrible. Lots of bugs still. I hope that the final release is better! Of course my real gripe is battery life. Im hoping I can still sell my used SP for around 700 and upgrade to the SP2

It's much better. I am on the 8.1 RTM and it's solidly synced to both desktop and tablet.

 

[oion]

If the surface pro 2 is around the same price (1000$) how much will the original surface pro be?? If you were to sell your surface pro after the 2nd gen come out, how much do you think you could get for it? I am running the 8.1 preview and I think its horrible. Lots of bugs still. I hope that the final release is better! Of course my real gripe is battery life. Im hoping I can still sell my used SP for around 700 and upgrade to the SP2

Another option is to buy the upcoming combo keyboard-battery, which supposedly will be released the same time as Pro 2. The accessory would be far cheaper than a brand-new unit, though it does add weight and thickness.

 

[drolem]

If the surface pro 2 is around the same price (1000$) how much will the original surface pro be??
I'm hoping I can still sell my used SP for around 700 and upgrade to the SP2

Price will depend on what is inside -- I think comparable models will intro at the same price, but expect to pay premium for 8G and 512G.
I wouldn't be surprised on another price cut on the Pro.