With Windows 8 off to a questionable start, it's a good time to talk about Microsoft's missteps.
A few days ago, Tami Reller, Microsoft's chief marketing and financial officer for Windows, announced that the company had sold 40 milion Windows 8 licences
since October 26 -- the day the new operating system launched. All puns
aside, on the surface that seems pretty impressive, but
others indicate a much shakier start for Windows 8 and the hardware hinged to it.
On November 29, an article by the New York Times cited poor sale figures for both windows 8 pc's and tablets from NPD, the retail sales tracking firm, painting "a darker picture of the Windows 8 introduction."
According to NPD, unit sales of Windows PCs in retail stores in the U.S.
fell 21 percent in the four-week period of October 21 to November 17
compared with the same period a year ago. And sales of Windows tablets have been "almost nonexistant" (less than 1 percent of all Windows 8 device sales).
Windows 8 was supposed to jump-start sales of PCs, not help them drop off. So what's wrong?
Well, plenty. Microsoft, of course, is a huge company that's flush with
cash. It can afford to make mistakes. The 8-figure kind. And making them
it is.
With that in mind, I've put together a little "best of" list of
Microsoft's faux pas. Feel free to agree or disagree and add your own
items to the list (yes, there are more, but I figured eight was enough).
1. Windows 8 upgrades cost too much
I have four or five Windows machines sitting around at home that I'd
consider upgrading if I got more than one license for $40. The fact is,
I'm fine running Windows 7 -- which is pretty darn good -- and don't see
any compelling reason to upgrade the machines, particularly because
none of them has a touch-screen display. I've also gotten used to
Apple's new system of allowing you to upgrade at least five machines
that have your iTunes account (App Store) once you buy an OS upgrade for $20.
Windows 8 isn't such a great deal, even at its $39.99 launch price (click to enlarge).
(Credit:
Microsoft)
Granted, Windows 8 is a bigger upgrade than Apple's yearly changing of
the felines, but I'm just not a one-license kind of guy anymore. I want
more. At least three, preferably five. Call me cheap, but I just don't
see myself upgrading until Microsoft offers up a better deal.
2. The muddle of Windows RT
I was shocked when a few months ago someone told me Microsoft's Surface RT tablet didn't run Windows 8 Pro but Windows RT, which doesn't run older Windows programs.
What the heck is Windows RT? Windows Retweet? And why would you put out a Windows RT tablet and then follow it up with a
"real" Windows 8 Tablet a few months later that does run legacy Windows software?
I actually think the Surface hardware is nice -- and so did our
reviewer, Eric Franklin -- but I'm not itching to run out and buy one
since it doesn't offer a unique, killer feature that makes it seem
better than the competition. Oh, and I'd rather wait for a real Windows 8
tablet that costs the same as an iPad.
3. Overpricing the Surface Pro tablet
When Microsoft unveiled its tablets several months back without
revealing the pricing for them, a lot of folks assumed the higher-end
model, the "real" Windows 8 tablet, the so-called Surface Pro, would be
pretty pricey. They were right. Recently, Microsoft said the Surface Pro
would start at $899 without a keyboard (the keyboard costs $100). Why
wouldn't I just buy an ultrabook with a touch-screen and twice the
battery life for around the same price?
4. The confusion over touch-screen vs. non-touch-screen Windows 8 laptops
A few friends have e-mailed asking me which Windows 8 laptop to buy. I
tell them we here at are recommending that folks buy a Windows 8
notebook with a touch screen. I've played around with a few Windows 8
notebooks and our laptop gurus, Dan Ackerman and Scott Stein, have
reviewed several models. They both think touch-screen is the way to go
-- and so do I. With its tile-based Metro interface, Windows 8 simply
lends itself to being a touch-screen interface.
Touch and go: Editor Dan Ackerman using the Acer Aspire S7 (click to enlarge).
Needless to say, this creates some confusion for consumers. I keep watching these Windows 8 ads on TV and I'm seeing a Sony and Dell and some other machines (we like the Lenovo Toga and Aser Aspire S7).
I have no idea which machine to buy, so I think to myself, "I'll wait
for the dust to settle and hold out for next-generation Windows 8
devices to hit the market in 2013 before I'll seriously consider buying
one." (Side note: I own both Macs and Windows machines and I'm writing
this article on a Windows machine at work. I'm in the market for a new
Windows machine at home because my young kids use only Apple devices and
I want them to be exposed to Windows before they completely succumb to
Apple.)
At this point, it's hard to justify putting
the resources forward to develop for their smartphones and tablets. We
can't make any money.
5. Failure to have developers buy in
On the same day the New York Times cited those NPD numbers,
It cited an IDC survey where 33 percent of developers who replied to
the survey said they were very interested in writing applications for
Windows 8 tablets and 21 percent for Windows Phone 7 software. (Why they
were polling for Windows Phone 7, and not Windows Phone 8, I don't
know.) That's compared with 85 percent of developers who were interested
in writing programs for the iPhone (83 percent for iPad) and 76 percent
for Android phones (66 percent for Android tablets). Needless to say,
the numbers looked bleak for BlackBerry devices.
As part of the study IDC opined that, "Mobile platforms that fail to
crack the 50 percent barrier of developers who are 'very interested' in
developing apps for them will be on a gradual track to demise."
In other words, unless Microsoft does a better job getting developers on
board fast, it's looking at a downward slope, and not the good kind.
On that note, I spoke to a major developer who was completely unimpressed by Microsoft's Windows 8 launch in New York City.
"They pretty much just showed their apps," said the developer, who
didn't want to be quoted by name in this article. "And when we met with
them, they just didn't provide any real monetary incentives for us to
develop apps for them. At this point, it's hard to justify putting the
resources forward to develop for their smartphones and tablets. We can't
make any money."
6. Not seeding enough influencers with Windows phones and tablets
In recent years Microsoft has spent millions of dollars on expensive
advertising campaigns. That's fine. That's what big companies with lots
of money do, even if they sometimes yield lackluster results. However, I
would argue that Microsoft's media outreach has been suspect in recent
years. Of course, it depends on which media you talk to, but I
personally have had little to no contact with Microsoft's PR folks (they
have two agencies) and couldn't tell who does what for them. I've
barely used any of their mobile devices except in passing. Granted, I'm
not very important, but I have written a lot of articles about Apple's,
Amazon's, and Google's products.
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer at the Windows 8 launch event in New York.
This is just anecdotal evidence, but it's also worth noting
that we never got a Surface tablet in CNET's New York office (we have
one in the San Francisco office). We do a lot of video here at CNET and
several of our editors regularly appear on TV, particularly during the
holiday season. It's pretty hard to show or talk about a product if you
don't have it.
Consider Microsoft's big Windows 8 launch event
in New York City on October 25. A lot of folks were expecting an "Oprah
moment" for media attendees, with Steve Ballmer promising Surface
tablets for all. Instead, journalists got a redundant walkthrough of the
new OS.
In the meantime, Samsung is doing big events in New York for its Galaxy phones (S3 Note2)
and doling out hundreds of review samples for the press to try out. The
same goes for Google, which routinely showers Google IO attendees with
the latest Nexus tablets or phones. Apple did it with the iPod. And
Amazon did it with the Kindle, too.
It may sound crass, but that's how it's done. No, it's not about "buying off" the press with free stuff. It
is
about letting key influencers -- journalists, bloggers, college
students -- live with these radically new operating systems for weeks,
not just a few minutes at a press conference. Microsoft needs to get
more people using the devices -- and evangelizing them -- before
developers will truly buy into the platform. And the company won't get
that with traditional advertising.
7. No 'hero' phone for Windows 8
Apple has always had the advantage of coalescing around one phone, the
iPhone, whatever generation it is. Yes, the Android market is
fragmented, but some of the Motorola models have stood out early, and
now the Samsung Galaxy S3 is a true Android star.
As for Nokia delivering a killer Windows 8 phone, that hasn't quite happened yet. The Lumia920
is appealing, but it just doesn't have the pizzazz or a strong enough
ecosystem to lift it past rivals in such a competitive market.
Microsoft needs its iPhone 5 or Galaxy S3 to have a chance -- and it just doesn't have it yet.
8. Missing the opportunity to expand Xbox brand
Microsoft has built a great brand with the Xbox and has been very
successful in conquering the living room, with a huge core of loyal
users. But Microsoft has failed to build on the Xbox brand across other
platforms.
As my colleague Jason Hiner has argued, Microsoft's smartphone should have been the xPhone,
not a Windows product (ironically, Windows 8's tile-based interface has
its roots in the Xbox's interface). Microsoft's been spending all this
money trying to make Windows devices look hip and cool when the Windows
brand just
isn't that hip and cool, and I'm not sure it ever will
be. You can argue over what it stands for now, but I don't think "hip"
would make the top five in a Family Feud survey.
Xbox, on the other hand, has an identity more closely tied to the
audience Microsoft seems to be going after today. I would have gone with
the xPhone. But what do I know?
