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Technology Stocks : Apple Tankwatch -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: sylvester80 who wrote (19967)	6/15/2012 4:06:50 PM
From: zax	1 Recommendation Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 32692

I'll be damned... Microsoft Expected to Introduce Tablet By NICK WINGFIELD Published: June 15, 2012 nytimes.com For decades, Microsoft has made the software that runs the vast majority of the world’s personal computers, leaving a gang of outside hardware companies to design the machines. Apple, its rival, makes it all. Microsoft is about to concede that Apple may be onto something. On Monday, Microsoft is expected to introduce a tablet computer of its own design that runs a new version of its Windows operating system, the first time in the company’s 37-year-old history that it will offer a computer of its own creation, according to people with knowledge of Microsoft’s plans who declined to be named discussing confidential matters. The device is aimed squarely at Apple’s iPad, the blockbuster touchscreen device that has begun to threaten Microsoft’s hegemony in the computer business. Frank Shaw, a Microsoft spokesman, declined to comment. The move would have been almost unthinkable at one time for Microsoft, a company that swallowed the PC market in the 1980s and 1990s by letting any hardware maker on the planet pay licensing fees to put Windows on its machines. That business was so lucrative for Microsoft that there was no reason for the company to make its own PCs, thereby competing for computer sales with its own partners. The stunning success of Apple, now the most highly valued company in the world, has shown its rivals that they can no longer rely entirely on the business models that were so successful during an earlier era of the tech industry. With the iPad, Apple coupled hardware and software together in an elegant package, producing longer battery life, a more responsive touchscreen and other features competitors have not been able to match. Google, too, has made a big concession to Apple’s approach; with its acquisition of Motorola Mobility last year, it signaled that it will design its own devices. “If it’s true that Microsoft is going to produce its own tablet, it’s a major turning point for the company and shows just howbreathtakingly the landscape has changed in a just a few years,” said Brad Silverberg, a venture capitalist in Seattle and former Microsoft executive, who said he had no knowledge of the company’s plans. “The stakes are enormous.” In the smartphone business, Google initially followed Microsoft’s playbook by making its Android operating system available to any hardware maker who wanted it, a move that helped turn Android into the top operating system for smartphones. The search company’s hardware partners were far less successful, though, in selling Android tablets to the public, which were often criticized for being inferior to the iPad. Last year though, Google announced plans to pay $12.5 billion to acquire Motorola Mobility, a maker of Android smartphones and tablets. That deal, which was completed last month, was seen as a big shift in strategy for Google that will help it create better Android smartphones and tablets. Microsoft and Google are not entirely embracing Apple’s approach. Even as they design their own devices, they both will continue to make their software available to hardware companies that want to base their products on them. Microsoft has already publicly demonstrated devices from hardware makers like Samsung running Windows 8, the next version of its operating system. Microsoft has invited the news media to an event in Los Angeles on Monday afternoon, where it is expected to show its tablet device. The entertainment industry Web site The Wrap earlier reported that Microsoft planned to announce a tablet at for the event. For Microsoft, making a tablet is an especially risky venture because of the enormous profits the PC business produces for Microsoft. Even with the emerging competition from the iPad, Windows remains one of the greatest franchises the technology industry has ever known, accounting for $4.6 billion in sales during its most recently reported quarter. Its plans could erode the commitment the company’s hardware partners have to Windows since it will effectively be competing with them for sales. Microsoft has made hardware before. It makes the popular Xbox 360, though that device sustained years of losses and manufacturing problems before it became a success. Microsoft failed with the Zune, a music player that was designed to compete with the iPod.