
Microsoft just cut in half its orders to suppliers for the Surface RT tablet - donohoe
http://qz.com/32265/microsoft-just-cut-in-half-its-orders-to-suppliers-for-the-surface-rt-tablet/
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pixelbath
Totally offtopic, but please don't set the navigation on your website up like
this. Scrolling to the top of the story begins loading other stories, and the
navigation really seems to have a mind of its own.

I'm sure it's great for mobile, but on a desktop this site is nearly unusable.

~~~
danso
This particular complaint seems always to be one of the top voted whenever a
QZ story makes it to HN. It's certainly a breakaway from traditional nav and I
understand its motivations...I wonder if it truly is a bad direction to go, or
if it's a "you don't know that you want this yet" feature and if so, if it's
just the kind of thing that the typical HN reader will never like (our moms
and dads, however...)

~~~
yajoe
The site looks gorgeous. Very pleasing.

However, on my computer I often scroll up and down with flicks just as often
as I highlight text to focus. It's usually when I'm skimming.

Boy was I surprised when the article disappeared because I scrolled too far
and there wasn't an obvious way to get it back. The subtle cues on the left
side nav are not in my line of focus and I missed them, so the first time it
happened I was really confused.

Scrolling doesn't seem like the right event to trigger the next article here.
I don't want this feature.

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colkassad
So I was in Best Buy the other day and asked a Microsoft rep who was there
touting Windows 8 where the Surface tablets were. He said they only sell them
online and through their store. Why is that? Perhaps they would sell more
Surface tablets if they had them visible in a Best Buy where a good portion of
middle America demos new electronics?

On another note, why is the Nokia Lumia 920 an AT&T exclusive? If they want
their platforms to become more popular, why do they hamper their access so
much (the same can be said for Nokia who are supposedly in trouble)? Most
Windows phones available from carriers are pretty lackluster. The only ones
that catch my eye are the Lumia 920 and the HTC One X.

~~~
wildranter
Coincidentally both strategies were implemented by Apple, or sort of. Anyway,
seems like Redmond's photocopiers have been running like crazy lately.

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shin_lao
It's a bit unfair to say that given that both the Surface and the Lumia are
quite original.

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mtgx
He was saying they photocopied Apple's _distribution strategy_ not their
devices.

It's amazing to me how many companies fall for a strategy that works for
Apple, and think that it could easily work for them, too. Apple has so many
advantages that makes stuff like this work, that it would be almost impossible
for anyone else to get it working without those advantages.

"If only we would get carrier exclusivity, too"

"If only we had our own custom proprietary OS, too"

"If only we created our own proprietary docks and connectors"

"If only we had our own specialized stores"

And many other such things. They copy all these things, thinking that it will
work for them just like it did for Apple, without realizing that those work
_only_ for Apple, _because_ they are Apple.

~~~
mgkimsal
With a _long term_ and rather singular/focused goal measured in years, not
quarters, these probably _would_ work for some other company. But, these
elements are really the byproduct of the long-term goals, vs the goals
themselves.

I don't see many companies willing to invest in a long-term and multi-pronged
strategy. With most companies, one down quarter or bad gartner report and
they'll revise next year's activities and products.

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brudgers
If Microsoft is netting $200 per unit, this represents only $400,000,000 of
some net revenue projection (assuming the report is correct). Yes, it's more
than a rounding error. But it's not going to have much impact on the bottom
line.

Deathspiral?

Microsoft isn't betting the farm on becoming a hardware company.

~~~
roc
When they piss off their OEMs with a little surprise, like the Surface was,
there's more at stake than just whether that particular hardware succeeds.

~~~
douglasisshiny
I never bought into this. When the chief of Acer (was it Acer?) made veiled
threats, I couldn't help but think, "What are you going to do?" Are they going
to abandon Windows? No. The only position they're really in is to make even
crappier products.

~~~
roc
Abandon, no. But they can be expected to push back a bit more on decrees and
pressure from Redmond that they not push Linux/Android as equal citizens.

Acer probably has less lattitude in this regard, but HP and Dell have non-
trivial inroads to Microsoft's (very profitable) enterprise customers. And if
they start building and shipping Linux-based servers that plug into the MS
infrastructure they're already supplying, at massively less cost [1],
Microsoft's entire fallback plan of milking the enterprise into the sunset
(going IBM) is under threat.

[1] Consider an opensource Sharepoint replacement that has all the
Exchange/Office/Active Directory integration. HP has the staff and resources
to make that happen, given that they can deliver any and all windows plugins
necessary to support the edge cases. Or even linux-based web and database
servers that play well with an otherwise-MS enterprise.

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Sumaso
"As a result, pundits are already declaring this the beginning of (or an
important milestone in) Microsoft’s death spiral."

Really? So much of their business is relying on the Surface RT that it will
spell doom for the entire company? Highly unlikely.

~~~
Cookingboy
It's not that their other businesses are failing, but pundits are calling this
the nail in the coffin in Microsoft's effort of breaking into the mobile
market, and in a bigger picture, transitioning some of their aging
business/product line to cope with the new consumer market. If you put it that
way, then it does seem like a slow and long decline is what awaits Microsoft
in the future.

~~~
rwmj
A good thing for shareholders if they stop wasting money failing in the mobile
market.

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davidbrent
This is the 2nd qz.com link for me today that doesn't work. I just see a
spinning circle in the middle of the page.

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milesf
Had the same spinning circle in Chrome. Tried Safari and it worked.

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noinput
Semi-unrelated, but I really enjoyed the mobile optimized version of quartz.
Intuitive nav header based on scroll gesture & pull to refresh and get a new
article were a nice touch.

~~~
glesica
I found the desktop version of the site nearly unusable. While I was waiting
for the Javascript mess to render the actual content I hit the scroll wheel,
the screen flickered a bunch of times, and I ended up one a completely random
article somehow. Horrible.

Edit: Scrolling up at the "top" of the page should do nothing, not go to some
other page.

~~~
noinput
Fun juxtaposition of experience. Looks like the site is simply responsive, and
I agree with you that the desktop version is too greedy with the actions that
play in the favor of mobile.

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sergiotapia
Are we getting astroturfed here? This is the second 'qz.com' link I've seen
here today.

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macca321
Perhaps they should cut the price in half.

And double the screen resolution.

~~~
mgkimsal
at least cut the price.

I don't get why companies are keen to dump hundreds of millions in
development, but don't want to cut price on something because they'll "lose
money" on the product.

There's probably more accounting issues and 'predatory pricing' arguments and
such that could be made, but at the end of the day, they've already spent the
money on all the development of the mobile/surface/phone stuff. If more people
aren't using it enough to be a serious long-term player, they've "lost" the
money already. "Losing" a bit more by selling the hardware at cost or below
cost to establish an installed base doesn't seem wrong. Don't console
manufacturers do that, and it's accepted in _that_ market?

~~~
danso
Cutting the initial price near rollout sets a bar for every future iteration
of that product. Just like how every iOS game has to grapple with the fact
that Angry Birds is only 99 cents, and a load of other very popular games are
"free". There are ways for higher-priced products to prevail against the
expected price, but it's not easy.

~~~
mgkimsal
But... they do it with xbox (IIRC), because everyone else is doing it. In the
short term (next 2-4 years) no one is going to be able to compete with ipads
in the $500 range. Kindle Fires have enough tie to Amazon to be OK there for a
while. MS could fight better in that market. Or... goodness, just have shipped
the $499 Surface _with_ the keyboard/cover bundled, just so people are getting
something "extra" with the $500.

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RawData
Everyone is waiting for the pro version to come out...why buy this one?

~~~
UnoriginalGuy
I was going to buy the Pro one until they announced the price. Now I'd just a
Macbook Air or an Ultrabook instead.

~~~
tallanvor
Well, there are rumors about the price, but nothing has been announced yet.

