Microsoft's chief financial officer yesterday confirmed that the company and its hardware partners would ship smaller, lower-priced Windows tablets in the next months.
"We are working closely with OEMs on a new suite of small touch devices powered by Windows," said Peter Klein Microsoft's outgoing CFO in a conference call with Wall Street analysts Thursday. "These devices will have competitive price points, partly enabled by our latest OEM offerings designed specifically for these smaller devices, and will be available in the coming months."
Later in the call, Klein said that the expanded tablet portfolio would feature Surface devices as well as ones from its OEMs (original equipment manufacturers), and that lower prices would be one of their hallmarks.
Last week the Wall Street Journal reported that Microsoft itself would launch a series of smaller, less-expensive Surface tablets in 2013 to better compete in that fast-growing segment of the market. One analyst pegged $299 as a possible starting price; previously, other experts had speculated on prices ranging from $199 to $399.
Microsoft's tablets start at $499 for the Surface RT, which uses Windows RT, the tablet-oriented, touch-only operating system, and $899 for the Surface Pro, the device that relies on Windows 8 Pro and can run "legacy" applications that also run on Windows 7 PCs. Those prices do not include the keyboard-slash-covers which Microsoft emphasizes as a key component of the it's-a-tablet-it's-a-PC strategy for Surface.
Although the Surface RT's price is competitive with that of Apple's 9.7-in. iPad, all the Surface tablets cost significantly more than Apple's 7.9-in. iPad Mini or the slew of 7-in. tablets running Google's Android.
Klein's comments were the first official word from Microsoft that it plans to join the sub-8-in. tablet market.
Analysts have stressed how important it is for Microsoft to prove Windows 8 and Windows RT can compete with Apple's iOS and Google's Android as tablet operating systems. If its tablet strategy fails, the company faces waning influence as it becomes even more of an enterprise-centric vendor.
Klein, speaking to investors through the Wall Street analysts on yesterday's earning call, laid out Microsoft's strategy and explained why Windows 8 and Windows RT have not yet gained traction.
One of the factors in Windows 8's performance, Klein said, was a dearth of more powerful, less-expensive devices. The former will come when Intel starts shipping its next-generation processors, dubbed "Haswell" and "Bay Trail."
"We've always felt that with Windows 8, it was a process of the ecosystem really innovating across the board, and really starting to see that on the chips," Klein said, talking about upcoming processors from Intel. "And we're very encouraged by both Haswell and some of the Atom processors to really improve the overall user experience that Windows 8 delivers."
Intel's soon-to-retire CEO Paul Otellini talked up Haswell and Bay Trail, and their impact on Windows 8's performance and device prices, on Tuesday. Otellini predicted Windows system and device prices as low as $200 by the fourth quarter.
Klein also acknowledged, with a frankness not expressed thus far by Microsoft's executives, that the giant faces a tough environment.
"There is no doubt that the device market is evolving. Consumers and businesses are increasingly shifting their focus to touch and mobility, and as a result, they want touch-enabled computing devices that are ultrathin, lightweight, and have long battery life," said Klein, admitting that Windows' revenue has been affected by the change from PCs to more mobile devices.
He also called that transition "complicated" for Microsoft, but not surprisingly remained upbeat. "We still have an immense amount of work to do, yet we feel good about the foundation we have laid and are optimistic about the long term success of Windows," Klein said.
Simpler said than done, pointed out Patrick Moorhead, principal analyst at Moor Insights & Strategy.
