Steve Ballmer confirms Microsoft's intentions to produce more hardware

[dgstorm]

Love it or hate it, it looks like Microsoft is firmly convinced that hardware is a field where it just has to be. Speaking at a tech event in California yesterday, Microsoft's CEO has once again hinted that his company is continuing to explore all kinds of available options to join the hardware game. Understandably worried about the reactions of their partners, the CEO has said that although Microsoft is definitely going into hardware, it believes that it is its partners will be controlling the major part of the Windows ecosystem.

Here's what Microsoft's chief said:

Do I anticipate that partners of ours will build the lion's share of all Windows devices over the next five years? The answer is, absolutely. With that said, it is absolutely clear that there is an innovation opportunity on the scene between hardware and software and that is a scene that must not go unexploited at all by Microsoft.

There you have it - yet another confirmation that Microsoft is looking to build more hardware. The company that brought you Windows has just recently launched its Windows RT-based Surface tablet, with a more powerful, Windows 8 Pro-running version expected soon. It's still too early to say if these devices are a market success for Microsoft, but at least they might serve as a reference for their hardware partners, which Microsoft hopes to inspire to build better Windows products in the future.

Continue Reading @: Steve Ballmer confirms Microsoft's intentions to produce more hardware

 

[fosking]

Microsoft have played this game well. They have seen the massive success of Apple and probably understood taking them head on through their boom wasn't a good game plan. Today the market is changing and depending how much Microsoft want it, they can be a market leader once again.

 

[Surface2Air]

It will be interesting to see how Microsoft's plan unfolds. On one hand, MS is competing with their partners (Dell, Samsung, etc), the very companies that license Windows. On the other hand, MS has the opportunity to showcase Windows 8 and future releases in the very best hardware.

Hopefully, Microsoft's new long range plan will spur its partners into trying to outdo each other, resulting in some incredible products. We as consumers can only benefit from all this competition.

Speaking only for myself, the Surface is the first device in years that has gotten me interested again in the Windows OS. My last PC ran XP, so it's been a while, and I have been more than pleasantly surprised with Windows RT, and consequently Windows 8. I understand some of the criticism in the reviews of the new OS, but most of these complaints can be erased with minor upgrades. The benefits of Windows 8/RT far outweigh the annoyances, and Microsoft is putting itself in a position to show off the new OS in the best possible light.

The Surface is, ahem, just scratching the surface. It will get people interested in other products with the name Microsoft either on the outside or the inside.