“Consumer preferences in one of this holiday’s hottest categories — tablet computers — shifted pretty dramatically between the third and fourth quarters, according to a new survey of U.S. households with broadband access published Thursday by Parks Associates,” Philip Elmer-DeWitt reports for Fortune. “When presented with option of buying an iPad mini, 40% of those who had said planned to buy an iPad changed their minds and opted for the mini.”
“‘Apple continues to gain strength in key product categories,’ said Parks’ John Barrett,” P.E.D. reports. “The most dramatic shift, however, was the fall-off in potential Surface buyers. ‘Consumers initially expressed interest in the Microsoft Surface,’ Barett said, ‘but once pricing and product details were announced, holiday intentions to purchase a Microsoft Surface dropped to 21% in Q4 from 45% in Q3,'” P.E.D. reports.
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Certainly the reviews for Microsoft’s garbage with a kickstand (see below) didn’t help, either.
Related articles:
Beleaguered Microsoft’s Surface tablet flops – December 12, 2012
MKM Partners cuts Microsoft price target, estimates on lower than expected Surface, Windows 8 sales – December 5, 2012
Why Microsoft’s Surface tablet is doomed – December 5, 2012
App developers shun Microsoft’s Surface tablet – December 4, 2012
Microsoft Surface Pro to offer only half the battery life of Apple’s latest iPad with Retina display – November 30, 2012
Microsoft’s Surface Pro iPad killer to start at $899 – November 29, 2012
Microsoft’s Surface tablet flops, orders reportedly cut in half – November 29, 2012
TechCrunch’s Siegler reviews Microsoft Surface RT: ‘It’s time for a drop test – right into the garbage can’ – November 19, 2012
Slate reviews Microsoft’s Surface tablet: Too slow, mercilessly buggy; why is it so bad? – November 6, 2012
InfoWorld reviews Microsoft Surface RT: A disappointment; you’re better off with Apple’s iPad – October 31, 2012
Gizmodo reviews Microsoft Surface RT: Do not buy; inferior to Apple’s iPad; the worst of both worlds – October 25, 2012
The Verge reviews Microsoft Surface RT tablet: ‘The whole thing is honestly perplexing; who is this for?’ – October 24, 2012
ZDNet’s Kingsley-Hughes: Microsoft’s Windows 8 is an awful, horrible, painful design disaster – June 8, 2012
Analyst meets with big computer maker, finds ‘general lack of enthusiasm’ for Windows 8 – June 8, 2012
Dvorak: Windows 8 an unmitigated disaster; unusable and annoying; it makes your teeth itch – June 3, 2012
The Guardian: Microsoft’s Windows 8 is confusing as hell; an appalling user experience – March 5, 2012
More good news for Apple: Microsoft previews Windows 8 (with video) – June 1, 2011
It’s not all about promotion. You kinda have to get the product right too.
Oh gee to hear the Apple Haters tell it it’s just all about effective marketing and not the terrific Apple devices & ecosystem selling themselves. Surely they are right? (WRONG!)
But, but the Surface was just right for that hot chick on Arrow.
That’s exactly right and even from conceiving it. However, that’s exactly what these guys have not understood for so many years now. Hence the multiple crapy products out there, and many more which did not see the light.
I guess it didn’t “click” with consumers after all.
Surface is just an expensive Metro-nome…
I lost 100 percent of interest once they said it was made by Microsoft.
Great news for Apple. And if the market continues like this by Xmas you can have a choice. For $329 you can buy a Mini iPad, wifi version, or one share of AAPL. Your choice.
You know I don’t remember ever considering a company’s stock price before purchasing something
I hear you. M$ down .96% today and AAPL down 4.25% so far.
If I were looking to buy a Windows device. Why would I choose the Surface (Intel) @ $899 over a laptop (running the same OS) @ $499. What would I be getting that would be worth the $400 price difference? Both have crappy screens, poor battery life, and (from the reviews) poor build quality.
It’s just DOA.
The only way the Surface won’t sink is if Microsoft designed it as a submarine.
That doesn’t prevent it from still sinking. Or stinking.
This is what they get for continuing to produce tablets that are keyboard, mouse, and desktop OS framed. If they continue to listen to Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer… They will have to dig up that casket they buried the iPhone in and lay Microsofts remain in it. Well, you know… what little will be left of it.
Who are these 21%? Silly people.
Microsoft continues to demonstrate it is yesterday’s solution to a problem we no longer have.
Microsoft:
Solving yesterday’s problems tomorrow!
The Surface is a good example of why other companies rip off Apple’s IP.
I just cannot believe the pinheads at MS didn’t see this coming. What the hell were they thinking? Oh wait, they didn’t think, they just listened to Ballsmer. Keep up that strategy Ballsmer!
The Surface & W8 was doomed right from the outset – its become an object lesson to what happens when you completely misunderstand a market and what is selling best, and why.
I guess they hedged their bets a little by suggesting that the Surface has alternative uses apart from computing (you know – skateboarding, dancing prop, percussion instrument, child’s toy, furniture scratching device, paper-weight) but when it comes down to it the compromises, limitations, performance issues and difficulty of use make this probably the worst system design package in a generation.
When you also factor in the relatively high price of a Surface against some of the OEM devices that actually permit greater usage at lower cost then you begin to wonder if M$ have any marbles left to lose.
Not selling? Is there anyone out there who can possibly be surprised at this ??!
Saw the Surface today. As an Apple fan, I liked the overall concept. Hated the keyboard – there seems little leeway in how precisely you press on the keyboard, causing many of my keystrokes to be ignored. Screen color seemed washed out and drab. Windows 8 is ok – I could learn to live with it. Has a filing structure, compared to Apple’s storage for dummies. I can’t even call Apple’s a dumbed down filing system since that would imply Apple does have a filing system. I am fully optimistic that Microsoft could have a viable iPad competitor in about 2-3 years time as the current model is refined by one or more cycles of improvement.
“… As an Apple fan… ”
I can’t stand obvious trolls who start off with, “I’m really an Apple fan, but… “
Meet the new IBM PCjr!