Microsoft wants top 5 tablet by end of year

by Scott Bicheno on 3 June 2011, 17:33

Tags: Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), ViewSonic

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In this last part of our ViewSonic tablet interview series, we conclude with a look at Windows as a tablet proposition and ask whether the whole market has been overhyped a tad.

European marketing manager James Coulson revealed that one benefit to Microsoft of having the tablet initiative taken from it by Apple is that it doesn't have to chase OEMs anymore, as it has for the last decade. They are now coming to Microsoft, having seen the potential of tablets.

While the iPad is selling in decent numbers, Coulson feels the commercial tablet space is still under-exploited, and there remain plenty of opportunities for Microsoft there. In fact, he revealed that Microsoft aims to have one of the top five selling tablets this year running on Windows.

To conclude we discussed the tablet market on the whole, and whether it's a straight cannibalisation of netbooks. Coulson revealed that tablet sales are still not matching the media hype, and there's still a lot of educating of the market to be done. That doesn't come as a big surprise to us.

 

 

 

 

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Posted by HalloweenJack - Sun 05 Jun 2011 14:43
http://sg.news.yahoo.com/microsoft-pact-nvidia-could-result-future-takeover-070058453.html

Computer giant Microsoft has a deal in place with graphics and mobile processor manufacturer Nvidia that gives the Redmond-based company the exclusive right to equal any offers by third-parties for 30 percent or more of Nvidia’s outstanding shares. The deal effectively prevents any other company besides Microsoft from acquiring Nvidia.
In a Securities and Exchange Commission filing dated May 27 and reviewed by Information Week, Nvidia says, “Under the agreement, if an individual or corporation makes an offer to purchase shares equal to or greater than 30% of the outstanding shares of our common stock, Microsoft may have first and last rights of refusal to purchase the stock.”
Nvidia is a major player in the booming tablet component market and also manufactures parts for personal computers. This week at the Computex trade show in Taiwan, Microsoft showed off Windows 8 tablets running on chips made by Nvidia. Other companies using its components include Samsung and Motorola.
The Information Week report suggests that in recent years Apple may have been interested in acquiring Nvidia, though news of the deal beteween Microsoft and Nvidia appears to have put an end to any ideas the Cupertino company may have had regarding a takeover.
In a quarterly earnings report filed last week by Nvidia, the company stated that an attempt by another company to acquire it could be disrupted by “our agreement with Microsoft.” Information Week reported that “at current valuations, the clause would kick in if a potential acquirer offered about $3.4 billion for 30% or more of Nvidia.”
Having the option to prevent another company acquiring Nvidia puts Microsoft in a strong position as it means the computer giant can stop another company coming along and potentially disrupting the supply chain for components for its devices, such as upcoming tablets running Windows 8. Of course, if Microsoft acquired Nvidia then it would have total control over Nvidia’s supply chain.
For the time being at least, it seems that there are no immediate plans for Microsoft to buy Nvidia, although officials at the computer company declined to comment for the Information Week report.

handy position to take the game to apple ;)
Posted by crossy - Tue 07 Jun 2011 09:46
For the time being at least, it seems that there are no immediate plans for Microsoft to buy Nvidia, although officials at the computer company declined to comment for the Information Week report.
Hmm, mixed opinions on this. On one hand this'd be a disaster for Linux folks - because you can pretty much guarantee that Linux driver support for NVidia chips would be dropped.
On the other hand, possibility of a Tegra-optimised version of Windows8, along with an NVidia graphics-powered XBox 360 replacement is appealing. I always thought that the graphics on the PS3 (NVidia chip) were better than the XBox's (ATi powered).

I really can't see a Windows-based tablet being in the top 5 by the end of the year. For a start you've got the iPads to go up against, the HP Touch Pad (if it ever appears), and then all the rainbow of Android-powered tablets. I'm also not 100% convinced that Win7 is necessarily that great on tablets, although I'll grant that a WP7-running one might be quite neat.
Posted by CAT-THE-FIFTH - Tue 07 Jun 2011 10:09
crossy
I always thought that the graphics on the PS3 (NVidia chip) were better than the XBox's (ATi powered).

Actually the opposite is usually the case with cross platform games as the PS3 version tend to look worse and are rendered at a lower internal resolution. An example is Crysis 2. On top of the PS3 has 7800GT based GPU whereas the Xbox 360 uses a custom GPU which borrows features seen on the DX10 capable GPUs. The PS3 has a less advanced GPU than the Xbox 360 and in most cases it is the Cell processor which is used to perform additional graphical tasks.
Posted by crossy - Tue 07 Jun 2011 12:42
CAT-THE-FIFTH
Actually the opposite is usually the case with cross platform games as the PS3 version tend to look worse and are rendered at a lower internal resolution. An example is Crysis 2. On top of the PS3 has 7800GT based GPU whereas the Xbox 360 uses a custom GPU which borrows features seen on the DX10 capable GPUs. The PS3 has a less advanced GPU than the Xbox 360 and in most cases it is the Cell processor which is used to perform additional graphical tasks.
Interesting info, (thanks!), actually I was basing my opinion on dedicated titles - e.g. GT5 v's Forza3. X-platform stuff is a different ball game, because (flame proof underwear on) they tend to be done to lowest common denominator and shovelled out of the door as fast as marketing want them.