You wouldn't expect Microsoft to say it has a product that's set up to kill the laptop computer. After all the laptop computer and the PC are what built Microsoft into the colossus that it is.
But here's how Panos Panay described the new Surface Pro 3 tablet device at a New York press event. The new device is the tablet that can replace your laptop."
The Surface Pro 3 is thin — 9.1 millimeters thick. It's light — just 800 grams, and it's fast, especially if you buy the version with the Intel Core I7 processor. It has a 12-inch diagonal screen, comparable to Apple's standard iPad.
You can add a keyboard to it and a pen for writing personal notes (or doing the New York Times crossword puzzle). And, unlike Apple's iPad, the Surface Pro 3 is aimed not so much at the consumer-geek crowd (and others who can find other uses for it). Instead, it's aimed squarely first at the commercial market.
It comes loaded with Windows 8.1. You can subscribe to various Microsoft aps, and other software vendors are already building applications for it, said Panay, the corporate vice president in charge of the Surface family of devices.
A big question is if it's too pricey.
With Panay in New York was Michael Gough, an Adobe Systems vice president, who showed off how the new device can run Adobe's Photoshop.
A keyboard can be easily attached, and it has an adjustable kickstand that can be set to just about any angle.
But the larger point about the device is this: It was inevitable the moment that the iPad arrived that the tablet was where PCs were headed.
The iPad destroyed the market for low-end netbooks. It then cut deeply into sales of notebook computers generally. Apple was soon selling more iPads than the combined notebook sales for Dell Inc., Hewlett-Packard and others.
Apple has understood where the tablet was going. Vendors build keyboards for the device, and Apple worked with Microsoft to make Microsoft Office available to iPad users. Already, users have downloaded 27 million copies of the software. The free downloads lets users look at Word, Excel and PowerPoint presentations. To use the software after a one-month trial requires subscribing to Office 365 for $9.99 a month.
And now comes the Surface Pro 3, which claims from the outset to be a replacement for the laptop.
The big question for Microsoft is this: Can this device generate enough demand that it can carve out a significant market share. Maybe. The stock market seemed to like what it heard. Microsoft shares were off 7 cents or 0.2%, to $39.68 — on a day when the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 138 points, or 0.8%, to 16,374.
There remains the thorny issue of pricing. To buy a Surface Pro 3 with an Intel Core i3 processor will run you $799. But it comes without a keyboard. A keyboard that doubles as a device cover will cost an additional $129.99. A pen for the device will cost $49. The top end of the product line, with the most powerful Intel chip, lists for $1,949. Add in the keyboard and pen, and it tops out at nearly $2,130.
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What that reinforces is the idea that corporate or institutional users are the primary market. And the question is if they will bite. Some have, including BMW Group, The Coca-Cola Co. and LVMH – Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton.
A second question, posed by ZDNet's Mary Jo Foley, is what happened to what was supposed to a smaller version of the Surface, powered by chips designed by ARM Holdings. There was no mention of it Tuesday, even though there had been reports that Tuesday's presentation would introduce the smaller version — if it exists at all.
We should note that Intel seems to have gotten a victory from the new device. Its shares were unchanged at $26 on Tuesday. ARM Holdings was down $1.11, or 2.5%, to $42.83.
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