Here's How Scared Microsoft Is Of The iPad

Here's How Scared Microsoft Is Of The iPad
Here's How Scared Microsoft Is Of The iPad

How Microsoft plans to market against the iPad
How Microsoft plans to market against the iPad | ZDNet

Microsoft's iPad battle plan for partners
Microsoft's iPad battle plan for partners | ZDNet

It seems MS's whole strategy is:
"Our product is bad but the ipad is worse so get ours".

Microsoft…*sigh*…what is the tech world going to do with you?

Reading through a few other posts over there I found this little paragraph at the top of the page:

"Apple sold 7.3 million iPads in Q4.

According to SAI's Matt Rosoff, citing IDC estimates, the global PC market is about 100 million units a quarter.

That means that, in its third quarter of existence, Apple's iPads already have ~7% of the global PC market.
Wow!"

iPad already has 7% of the global PC market.

Click to expand...

!!
And people said it isn't a computer...hah! If the iPad steals away computer sales, while it is deemed "not a computer," then clearly computers are getting irrelevant.

Buzzard2010 said:

Reading through a few other posts over there I found this little paragraph at the top of the page:

"Apple sold 7.3 million iPads in Q4.

According to SAI's Matt Rosoff, citing IDC estimates, the global PC market is about 100 million units a quarter.

That means that, in its third quarter of existence, Apple's iPads already have ~7% of the global PC market.
Wow!"

Click to expand...

If those stats are correct, that's incredible. Although I think in a lot of households the iPad isn't replacing a new computer purchase... it's just adding another to the family.

Microsoft has it all wrong, as usual. The enterprise iPad adapters are not looking to replace their work PCs. Instead, they are simply using it to "consume data". The iPad is a much easier way to do this; you don't need to power up your bulky laptop on an airplane just to read and send short emails.
That being said, what is the point of carrying around TWO Windows devices: your Windows 7 laptop and your Windows 7 tablet? That's like carrying two computers with separate documents, applications, settings, etc. No one would rely on just a tablet, at least at the point that they are now.

infiniteloop12 said:

Microsoft has it all wrong, as usual. The enterprise iPad adapters are not looking to replace their work PCs. Instead, they are simply using it to "consume data".

Click to expand...

This is where you are wrong. People are looking for more ways to use the ipad in enterprise every day. From remote desktops to work related apps to accessing MS exchange severs and more. Sure the ipad is good for viewing content but it can be used for so much more. And enterprise is slowly realising this and taking advantage of the fact.

the8thark said:

This is where you are wrong. People are looking for more ways to use the ipad in enterprise every day. From remote desktops to work related apps to accessing MS exchange severs and more. Sure the ipad is good for viewing content but it can be used for so much more. And enterprise is slowly realising this and taking advantage of the fact.

Click to expand...

I'm not wrong. The iPad has a lot of business functionality, but some things it doesn't do necessarily well. Sure, you can type and email and work as much as you want, but that doesn't mean it is the best way to do it. I love using my iPad for browsing the web, writing email, and reading documents. Productivity apps like Pages are great, but they pale in comparison towards the desktop editions. Maybe future iterations of the iPad will be better at doing this! I don't know the future. For the foreseeable future though, the iPad is a very useful tool for businesses , not a be-all and end-all solution for their IT departments.

infiniteloop12 said:

Productivity apps like Pages are great

Click to expand...

I'm talking about productivity apps that are not like pages. And there is a ton of them out there. I agree OS X pages is better then iOS pages. But for other tasks there are useful iOS apps out there.

Although I am sure Microsoft worries about Apple every day, as it has for years, Microsoft knows they will not typically "win over" an Apple user.

What I think is really making Microsoft sweat is the fact that all these phones, tablets, laptops, netbooks, ereaders, etc, are all coming out without the need of a Microsoft product installed on them.
Even a few years ago, if a product required software to run, it would use either Apple or Micorosft.
Now you have people using android, or, writing their own software for the device, not to mention whether or not Chrome can finally break into the operating system side of the PC. Although Ubuntu had tried, it has not been largely successful.
Microsoft is dependent on people like HP and Dell to use their software, but HP and Dell are releasing tablets with Android on them…with Windows coming along at some point in the future.
Microsoft is, in the end, primarily a software company. They have always relied on others to provide the hardware, which isn’t happening much anymore.
If Chrome came out with the ability to play most games that are available for Windows, then they would be in really big trouble.

One thing they need to do though, is bring more video games to mac. 5.07 percent of Steam users (video game downloading site) have Mac-based users. The rest are either Microsoft or Linux users.
Apple needs to make a computer that is cheaper too so schools can use them for their students. Macs are actually much more user friendly than PC's people cannot usually afford a quality one though. Macs are just getting more popular and popular, it won't be long before microsoft declares themselves bankrupt.

*Apple made it to 10 billion app downloads!

That's exactly how I was. I've been a computer nerd since as far back as I can remember..so about 3rd grade lol. During that time and up until 6 months ago, July '10, I decided to get a Macbook. I told all my friends "because I wanted to learn that other OS". 6 months later and I will never go back to Windows again.

Look closely at their battle plan on that third link he posted, they are literally running on fumes when it comes to ways of "battling" the ipad. The way I see it, there is nothing in there that Apple can't do with a software update and I'm sure if they really have 80% of the fortune 500 then that's exactly what they'll end up doing. Especially with them bringing in anew with a replacement for their Xserve, I will be excited to see how Apple stomps Microsoft out of this game like a used cigarette.


That's just my 2 cents.

Actually I don't see MS dying anytime soon no matter how bad their battle plans are. But the big issue which MS doesn't get is this.

People in the past wanted to use MS products. Now they don't really want to but they have to. Sure some of MS products are not that bad. But that's the feeling many people have gotten. MS's good work under Gates locked people into the MS world. And only now so much later are people slowly freeing themselves from this. I'm not saying leaving MS. I'm saying being able to have the choice to stay or switch.

But at the moment on the other hand people want to be associated with Apple and use their products. That's the big difference. MS is like food or razor blades. You need them to eat or shave. The world still needs MS. Even Apple need MS, even if it's just an insurance against Apple getting lazy and complacent.

Another key difference I've noticed now. MS always says it's better than Apple, better than Android better then linux etc etc. That in itself is not a bad thing. But they are always just trying to be one step better then their competitors.

Apple on the other hand only rarely says they are better then another company. Apple says their products are the best full stop. Like Apple is not content in just being one step ahead of the competition. They want to be so far ahead of the competition that they are not even mentioned in the same sentence as the competition. Like all the rest are one level and Apple is something else entirely. Is that arrogance on Apple's part? I don't know.

But there is a saying. "You can never reach the starts if you first don't plan and then work towards reaching them".

Apple will never reach their goal of perfection cause no one is perfect. But they are doing ok now. MS though will reach their goals I'm sure of it. But MS's goals though are not ambitious at all are so far from what they could be.

I guess if you take all the political science out of it, there's just one thing Apple has had since the iPod released and Microsoft cannot seem to get....and I've seen this from young children to the 90+ year old lady who bought an iPad, and that's that Apple has the "wow" factor. People are always wow'd by Apples products. Just like you said the8thark, Apple puts themselves so far ahead of the competition that they're not even in the same sentence. They're so far ahead that people are always wow'd by what they have to offer.