“Microsoft has never had a good track record with consumer hardware. That’s why the company’s departure from its modus operandi with Surface is such a big deal. The new tablet is arguably Microsoft’s biggest and boldest attempt at first-party hardware. Considering Steve Ballmer’s proclamation of Microsoft’s future as a ‘devices-and-services’ company, Surface is of paramount strategic importance, even if its financial results are negligible right now,” Evan Niu reports for The Motley Fool. “However, one analyst is now making an unflattering comparison for Surface and also expressing skepticism about Microsoft’s bigger picture. Is Surface destined to be the next Zune or Kin?”
“Microsoft Zune was doomed from the get-go. Launched five years after Apple’s iPod, it only lived for five years before Microsoft killed it off. Meanwhile, the iPod lived on and is now approaching its 12th birthday. Apple’s iconic music player is still the market leader with over 70% share,” Niu reports. 
Niu reports, “The last thing that Microsoft wants is for Surface to stir up memories of these dearly departed products. MKM Partners’ analyst Israel Hernandez thinks Surface RT is ‘on track to join Zune and the Kin in the great consumer electronics discount rack in the sky.'”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: GWAK.
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