We reached out to a few and for the most part what we received was “no comment” this was not expected as they do not want to hurt existing relationships. We have a feeling that a few might have had more notice that others. nVidia was probably the most “in the know” of all of them as Microsoft chose their Tegra 3 SoC over Qualcomm. Right after nVidia we expect that Asus might be next on the list if the rumors that Pegatron is who is building the Surface for Microsoft. Using Asus’ manufacturing arm for their new and competing product would not have gone over well without a little forewarning.

Not all of the partners are concerned about Surface though; upset, offended and annoyed; yes, concerned; no. One of these partners thinks that Microsoft’s foray into making its own hardware will not last long at all. Acer, the fourth largest PC maker has suggested this push will not succeed simply because Microsoft is part of an ecosystem and not a stand-alone entity like Apple is.

Many have talked that Microsoft is trying to copy Apple with Surface despite the fact that Microsoft has been pushing the tablet form factor since about 2000 and even had a “tablet edition” of Windows XP which debuted in 2002 long before even the iPhone hit the market. So you could actually say that Apple copied Microsoft and a host of others that saw the tablet as the wave of the future long before Apple picked up the idea.

Back to the more important part of this article. Microsoft IS trying to emulate the way that Apple presents their products and has even adopted about 2/3s of Apple’s style of press event. The problem with the Surface announcement is that it will not be available to the press or the consumer for quite a while. This means that the consumer has plenty of time to be lured by other new gadgets that pop up between now and the launch date. Then again, as we have said many times, Microsoft often cannot get out of their own way.

We do think that the release of the Surface tablet was a mistake and one that may come bac to haunt Microsoft in more ways than one. It is a move that could push some partners back to Android, stop potential partners from ever attempting to get into the market in the first place. We will echo Acer’s comment to Microsoft; stick to making software and gaming consoles. Microsoft did not do anyone any favors and they have completely ignored their partners efforts in bringing new products to the consumers which will run Windows 8.

Discuss this in our Forum