Microsoft Surface: PC partners react
After an initial reluctance to make any comments regarding Microsoft's first foray into PC building and selling with Surface, the Redmond company's hardware partners are now starting to gradually open up. First it was Acer CEO JT Wang expressing concern, then we heard from HP saying its relationship with Microsoft remains unchanged, and most recently Lenovo stated it doesn't fear the competition, whoever it may come from. So some of the traditional PC leaders remain stoic while others have grown agitated. Keep track of this developing storyline right here.
Acer CEO optimistic about Windows 8.1, claims Microsoft is back 'down to Earth'
While Microsoft executives have been hinting at the arrival of a Windows 8 update, codenamed Blue, two Acer execs have been voicing their approval of planned changes for the OS. Speaking to The Wall Street Journal, Acer president Jim Wong explained that Microsoft is making alterations "at a high percentage" rate thanks to OEM input. Arguing that the world is not going 100 percent touch in the next five years, he says "touch makes a lot of possibilities for PCs," but that "you need to take...
Stephen Elop interview: Nokia can compete with Surface
For all the speculation surrounding Nokia's MWC plans, the eventual launches from the Finnish company this morning proved somewhat underwhelming. High-end features like wireless charging and a super-sensitive touchscreen were trickled down into lower price ranges with the Lumia 520 and 720, but there was no new hero device, no translation of the 808 PureView's 41-megapixel camera into the Windows Phone realm, and no tablet.
We've been eagerly awaiting Nokia's entry into the highly...
HP's head of PC 'not a big fan' of Windows RT, says Surface is slow and kludgey
Todd Bradley, HP's head of PC, has spoken frankly about Microsoft's Windows RT and Surface launches. In an interview with IDG Enterprise, Bradley reiterated comments HP made earlier this year, saying he'd "hardly call Surface competition," before making some rather damning comments about Microsoft's first ever tablet. "It tends to be slow and a little kludgey as you use it," says Bradley, adding that "it's expensive... the press has made a bigger deal out of Surface than what the world has...
HP's Todd Bradley dismisses post-PC era, says 'people are trying to be dramatic'
Todd Bradley is HP's executive VP in charge of personal systems and printers. As such, it's his job to be excited about the future of PCs, but he's gone further in a recent interview with PC World in dismissing the claim that we're living in a post-PC era as "just wrong." Citing the broad need for computers in everything we do, Bradley argues that the global PC market remains as large and buoyant as ever. He does acknowledge the increasing importance of tablets, a market that HP aims to lead...
Lenovo's Gianfranco Lanci on the PC Plus era and the threat of Microsoft's Surface
Fresh off his company's manifold Windows 8 device announcements at IFA 2012, Lenovo's Gianfranco Lanci sat down with us for a few minutes to discuss the present state of the PC industry. It's become something of a nebulous term these days, the PC industry, what with the definition of the personal computer undergoing a transformation into new form factors and types of functionality, but Lanci appears unfazed by this period of flux. He defines the PC world in terms almost equivalent to the...
Dell promises plenty of Windows 8 devices to compete with Surface
Dell just announced a 22 percent drop in consumer sales as part of its Q2 earnings report, so with Windows 8 set to shake up the PC market in a matter of months you'd hope the company would have a solid strategy. Worry not, stressed CFO and senior VP Brian Gladden in the investors call, as there'll be a comprehensive lineup of Dell products running Microsoft's latest OS towards the end of the year.
Lenovo CEO ready to take on Microsoft's Surface, 'just one of many competitors'
Lenovo’s CEO Yang Yuanqing isn’t worried about Microsoft’s upcoming Surface tablet eating into his sales. "[They’re] just one of our many competitors. We are still confident that we are providing much better hardware than our competitors including Microsoft," he said during the company’s Q1 earnings call, reports CNET. It sounds like Yuanqing is gassed up over his company’s recent performance — net profit up 30 percent year over year on strong sales that leave it just a hair...
HP doesn't see Microsoft Surface as a threat to its own Windows 8 tablet
Microsoft's decision to make its own Surface tablets could have major implications for its traditional hardware partners, but their opinions on the subject remain divided. While Acer's CEO told Microsoft to "think twice" about its plans, Lenovo is more sanguine on Windows 8's prospects — and now HP seems to agree. Executive John Solomon told CRN that the company doesn't consider Surface a competitive threat, and emphasized that its own Windows 8 tablet would have enough to stand apart.
After warning Microsoft to 'think twice' about Surface, Acer CEO still thinks it will have a 'negative effect'
After publicly warning Microsoft to "think twice" about the release of its surface tablet, Acer CEO JT Wang has clarified and tempered his statements about the company, according to DigiTimes. The article quotes him as saying that "Microsoft's actions will have a rather negative impact on the long-established PC ecosystem," but that "[Acer] has no intentions of quitting the Windows-based tablet PC market, and is aggressively developing related devices."
Microsoft's move to participate...
Lenovo unfazed by Microsoft Surface as it targets Thinkpad Tablet 2 at business users
Unlike Acer CEO JT Wang's combative stance on Microsoft's Surface tablet, Lenovo's Dilip Bhatia is taking a much friendlier tone. Speaking with ABC News' Joanna Stern during today's launch of the Thinkpad Tablet 2, Bhatia, the Vice President and General Manager of the Thinkpad Business unit, confidently explained that Lenovo's upcoming tablet has nothing to fear. "Microsoft is a strategic partner for us" Bhatia remarked, citing increased consumer interest in Windows 8 tablets following the...
Acer CEO warns Microsoft to 'think twice' about its Surface plans
Acer CEO and chairman JT Wang has revealed his own feelings about Microsoft's foray into PC hardware. Speaking to the Financial Times, Wang criticizes Microsoft's choice to manufacture its own Surface tablet hardware — warning the company to think it over. "Think twice," he says. "It will create a huge negative impact for the ecosystem and other brands may take a negative reaction. It is not something you are good at so please think twice."
Acer's founder Stan Shih also previously...
Microsoft
Surface: PC makers offer no comment as reports conflict on when Microsoft gave them the news
Microsoft's debut of the Surface family of tablets wowed on several levels yesterday, not the least of which is the fact that Redmond will be moving into direct competition with some of the hardware partners it relied upon to build the dominance of Windows. Acer and Lenovo have both shown off Windows 8 tablets in recent weeks, with Dell, HP, and others expected to follow. Microsoft's first-party option now has the potential to upset what has been a stable relationship between hardware maker...
