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Asus CEO On Windows RT: "We're Out."

Posted by Unknown on from the some-companies-like-making-money dept.

symbolset writes "AllThingsD's intrepid reporter Ina Fried has an interview up where Asus chairman and CEO Jonney Shih says they will not make any more Windows RT devices until Microsoft proves demand for the product. This leaves Dell as the only OEM who has not sworn off Windows RT. Dell is seeking to take itself private, relying on a $2 billion loan from Microsoft." Turns out people want things that are the size of a laptop to work as well as a laptop.

21 of 246 comments (clear)

  1. maybe next time lose the lockdown by X0563511 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    So that you can make hardware that doesn't depend on MS?

    --
    For large sets, this will be our guide even unto death, for the LORD will work for each type of data it is applied to...
    1. Re:maybe next time lose the lockdown by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative
      According to Microsoft's annual 10-K report to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), published on Tuesday, their total Surface revenue for all of fiscal 2013 amounted to just $853m. That's nearly $50m less than the $900m charge Redmond took when it discounted its remaining Surface RT inventory by $150 per box.

      And that's not all. That $900m writedown was related to Surface RT only, but the $853m revenue figure includes sales of Surface RT and Surface Pro combined.

      Further down in its 10-K filing, Redmond reports that it upped its sales and marketing budget for the Windows Division in 2013 by a jaw-dropping $1bn, which included an $898m increase in advertising costs "associated primarily with Windows 8 and Surface."

      Got that? Microsoft spent more in a single year advertising the Windows 8 and Surface launches than it took in from Surface sales that same year.

      And remember, none of this was even spread over an entire calendar year. Microsoft's fiscal 2013 ended on June 30. It launched Windows 8, Windows RT, and Surface RT on October 26, 2012. The Surface Pro launch came later, in February. But whichever way you slice it, Microsoft managed to mow through an $898m marketing budget in just eight calendar months – and consumers still didn't take the bait.

      Strangely enough, Slashdot does not consider this news...

    2. Re:maybe next time lose the lockdown by jimicus · · Score: 4, Informative

      They can't. IIRC the requirements for bundling Windows RT include having the device locked down so it will only run Windows RT.

    3. Re:maybe next time lose the lockdown by putaro · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Heh - so if they had just given them away they would have lost less money.

    4. Re:maybe next time lose the lockdown by jawtheshark · · Score: 3, Funny

      Nobody stops you to start the brand....

      --
      Ahhh...the great dumpster continuum. Many a free computer will be found there. -- sowth (748135)
    5. Re:maybe next time lose the lockdown by Penguinisto · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Even worse than that, when you consider that if Microsoft *paid* people to take them, they would have stood pat.

      --
      Quo usque tandem abutere, Nimbus, patientia nostra?
    6. Re:maybe next time lose the lockdown by SDF-7 · · Score: 5, Informative

      Unless you are Neil McAllister, it would be nice if you'd signify that you're quoting his article in The Register rather than just plagiarize it.

      Compare http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/07/30/microsoft_surface_sales_disaster/ for all but the last sentence.

  2. A tablet isn't a PC. That's the point. by xtal · · Score: 5, Insightful

    How many MBAs does it take to miss that mind-boggingly obvious fact?

    Here's some free advice if anyone important is reading this (haha):

    Want to be wildly successful? Go invest a lot of time and money into figuring our how to make a 8.5 x 11" replacement for paper. That includes being able to write and draw engineering diagrams with a 0.2mm tip.

    I've wanted one of those forever, I'd be willing to bet a lot of professionals out there have the same problem - the ipad is close, but not quite big enough, and it doesn't have written input.

    "Me too" doesn't cut it. Have some vision, Microsoft. I dare you.

    --
    ..don't panic
    1. Re:A tablet isn't a PC. That's the point. by Scutter · · Score: 5, Insightful

      It would be nice if tablet designers, OS designers, and app coders stopped treating tablets like media consumption devices and started treating them like actual replacements for people who need to do actual work. Try working on a spreadsheet on one. Yes, you can do it. Yes, it's a colossal pain in the ass. Wanna reset a password in Active Directory from your tablet? If you're on Android or iPad, there's MAYBE one or two apps that can do it and then not very well. Oh, but if you want to listen to music on the crappy little speakers, there are about a thousand music players out there. There are any number of freemium games out there, too.

      Tablets are fine for what they are, but you can't sell them as a productivity tool without actually designing it as one, and that's what Microsoft tried to pull with Windows RT.

      --

      "Tell me doctor, with all of your defenses, are there any provisions for an attack by killer bees?"
    2. Re:A tablet isn't a PC. That's the point. by CohibaVancouver · · Score: 4, Interesting

      It would be nice if tablet designers, OS designers, and app coders stopped treating tablets like media consumption devices and started treating them like actual replacements for people who need to do actual work.

      They have. It's called the Surface PRO.

      I have one, and it works like a charm. It's a Core i5 running Metro + Win 8 pro. Runs full Office and has access to all network resources. At my desk it has its desktop extended to another monitor (try doing that with a f*cking iPad) with attached keyboard & mouse. Away from my desk it's got a detachable proper clicky keyboard and a nifty stylus.

      All my colleagues carry two devices (iPad + Notebook) - I carry one. Every time I pull it out at a meeting or at the airport people say "oooh... what's *that*?" The RT noise is distracting people from what is otherwise a very cool machine.

    3. Re:A tablet isn't a PC. That's the point. by Russ1642 · · Score: 3

      Office RT was neutered. No macros, no add-ins, no forms, etc. They didn't design it as a productivity tool, they designed it as a direct competitor to what you get on Android and iOS.

    4. Re:A tablet isn't a PC. That's the point. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Interesting

      And since the OP mentions being able to write and draw on it, it should be mentioned that the Pro is really good at that stuff also.

      Gabe from Penny Arcade has a pretty thorough review http://www.penny-arcade.com/2013/02/22/the-ms-surface-pro.

  3. No killer app by jfdavis668 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    A version of MS Office which supports touch poorly is not a killer app.

    1. Re:No killer app by guytoronto · · Score: 5, Funny

      A version of MS Office which supports touch poorly is not a killer app.

      Well, it killed the Windows RT tablet pretty well.

  4. Cheap over touchscreen by simonbp · · Score: 4, Informative

    The Samsung ARM Chromebook is still the best selling laptop on Amazon. The second best seller is the cheapest Windows (not RT) laptop from Dell. Windows RT devices do not appear on the list at all. It appears the market really doesn't care about touchscreens, but does care about price and battery life.

    http://www.amazon.com/Best-Sellers-Computers-Accessories-Laptop/zgbs/pc/565108

  5. Re:Makes sense by UnknowingFool · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Also even if Asus was in it still, there are millions of RT units from MS sitting out there unsold to compete with. I would say that someone at MS was wildly optimistic about RT projections or very bad at math. While we don't know the actual number some estimates have it at 6M unsold RT units. Surface RT was launched Oct 26, 2012 and was only sold at MS stores which only number two dozen or so. 6,000,000 units / 25 stores / 275 days / 12 hours means a MS store would have to sell 72 Surface RT units optimistically. And those are in addition to the ones already sold. I don't think that even Apple stores sell that many iPads during holiday season. What was someone thinking?

    --
    Well, there's spam egg sausage and spam, that's not got much spam in it.
  6. Another victim of the Microsoft Tax by RocketScientist · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Apparently some reports say that Microsoft is charging $90 per tablet to license RT. Consider that most retail "stuff" has a 100% markup to MSRP, and that means in order to compete with the cheaper offerings from Google ($200) and even Apple ($249) they'd have to be able to build the tablet for $10 to $60. You're not gonna get build quality for $60. That's the real reason the Surface tablet exists: nobody else really can make one and be profitable, so Microsoft wanted to show how to make one profitable (go high-end and put everything in it, despite that it cost a bit more than a nice iPad with less features, and rely on the Microsoft name).

    If Asus wanted to make Microsoft look bad, they could ship the same tablet, one with Android and one with RT, and just have one be half the price of the other, and see how they flew off shelves.

  7. Nobody wants to work on a tablet! by xtal · · Score: 3, Insightful

    You're missing my point.

    I have three 30" screens I work on. It is wonderful.

    I want a device that acts like my trusty pad of paper, but better. I like to be able to read and flip through reference papers leaned back in my chair, or over a coffee. I'm not going to sit down and work in that environment - certainly not to code, design a CAD part, work out a tooling process, design a PCB, figure out a circuit, or even write a long memo. I have a great work setup for those tasks.

    Microsoft completely missed the mark and the consumers have spoken. You and some others want to work on a tablet, fine - most don't.

    --
    ..don't panic
  8. Apple didn't pretend iOS was OSX by Overzeetop · · Score: 3, Insightful

    And Android has never claimed that you would be running full Linux on your device. Microsoft's blunder wasn't that they made a tablet OS, it's that they tried to pass it off as their full fledged desktop by giving it the same name when they had already spent 8 years with their desktop software already on tablet computers, and doubled down by simultaneously releasing a looks-and-feels identical version which really did run all of Windows desktop software.

    --
    Is it just my observation, or are there way too many stupid people in the world?
  9. Can't Believe Microsoft Thought it was a Good Idea by macromorgan · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The main strength of Windows was its ability to maintain an impressive amount of backwards compatibility. A few applications aside, things I bought 10 years ago still work on my Windows 8 x64 machine (without virtualization or emulation). To attack two well entrenched competitors Microsoft went in guns blazing without what is historically been the most compelling feature of Windows. I have an MBA, and even I saw this coming...

  10. Linux Netbooks Did by tuppe666 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Linux netbooks didn't really take off

    Except they did every store had more netbooks than anything else, Microsoft heavily discounted XP to compete(11 years old only if your stupid enough to count from launch), and then with Intel limited its specifications and Microsoft limits its OS (and it ran badly) to not cannibalise its more profitable none existent Ultrabook and its existing laptop market. They successfully killed it of...and then Apple launched the iPad which had none of the limits, some advantages...and a killer price (then not now) and obvious the brand.