With the announcement yesterday of Microsoft’s new tablet device comes a flurry of speculation about whether it can compete with Apple’s celebrated iPad and Google’s Droid devises. Here are the five reasons why the yet-to-be-released Microsoft devise is dead on arrival:
1. It’s Not a Game-Changer – In a highly competitive marketplace, it’s not enough to produce products with high quality. Microsoft has a bigger challenge than to convince people that their new tablet is great. It probably is. They have to convince us that the “Surface” is significantly better than the competition to persuade us to change our behavior and stop buying the other products and start buying theirs. Not going to happen.
2. It’s a Solution Looking for a Problem – Put simply, people look for solutions to problems and will part with their money to solve a problem. Even if their problem is that they feel that they “need” a bigger flat screen TV or cooler looking cell phone, consumers won’t shell-out big money for new technology if the alternatives are perceived as just as strong or stronger. The current market leaders are very, very strong.
3. The Cool Factor – Quite simply, (the Xbox not withstanding) Microsoft is not cool. Functional? Yes. Ubiquitous? Yes. But cool? Not so much. Just as we cringed when our older relatives bought us off-brand Mp3 players that they insisted were “just like an iPod,” so too will be the reluctance to show-off the new Microsoft “Surface” while those around us at Starbucks are tapping away on the latest iPad or super-cool Google-powered device.
4. Outside Their Wheelhouse – Once again, with the notable, other-category exception of the Xbox, Microsoft is simply not known as a computer hardware manufacturer. It’s not to say that they lack the expertise to create physical devices, it’s more an issue of not fitting in our perception of their sweet-spot. While we believe they can, we also believe that others can do it better.
5. Waaaay Too Late to the Dance! – We can only speculate on the leadership log-jam that not only prevented Microsoft from jumping into the game within the crucial same-year period as the iPad, but the head-scratching decision to jump in after…, uh… everyone! The market is saturated, others have already fallen by the wayside and the new device isn’t a significant leap above other market player. The question really isn’t: “Why now?” It’s: “Why at all?”
Marketing Expert David Avrin is the author of the top-selling: It’s Not Who You Know, It’s Who Knows YOU! (©John Wiley & Sons) Known internationally as the Visibility Coach, David Avrin speaks to business owners and entrepreneurs across America and around the world helping them to craft and promote a true competitive advantage. See a preview video at www.visibilitycoach.com
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Visibility Blog By David Avrin 
Excellent article, Dave. Many ideas that have applicability to my business.
David, I hear all your points (and agree about the cool factor), but the IT market for global enterprises is huge, and runs a ton of Microsoft software.
Not many Fortune 5000 companies are buying iPads for their legions of employees. But give them a tablet that integrates with the company’s exiting IT infrastructure, security, programs, databases, etc – and Microsoft may tap a huge vein of demand that iPad has not conquered.