Forrester Research: Windows 8 tablets too late, consumers no longer interested

By Tom Warren, on 29th Nov 11 3:01 pm with 93 Comments

Windows 8 Tablet at BUILD 2011

Forrester Research published a new report on Tuesday claiming Microsoft’s tablet strategy is too late.

Microsoft unveiled its tablet Metro style user interface at the company’s BUILD event in September but has not yet revealed when we can expect to see the first tablet offerings at retail. “Forrester is bullish on Windows 8 as a product for consumers,” explains Forrester Research Director JP Gownder in a blog post on Tuesday. “On tablets, Windows 8 is going to be very late to the party.” Forrester believes newcomers like Amazon’s Kindle Fire and Barnes & Nobel’s Nook tablet are “reshaping” consumer expectations and driving down price points. Gownder points out:

“For tablets, though, Windows really isn’t a fast follower. Rather it’s (at best) a fifth-mover after iPad, Android tablets like the Samsung Galaxy Tab, HP’s now-defunct webOS tablet, and the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet. While Windows’ product strategists can learn from these products, other players have come a long way in executing and refining their products — Apple, Samsung, and others have already launched second-generation products and will likely be into their third generation by the time Windows 8 launches.”

Forrester previously revealed that 42% of U.S. consumers, surveyed earlier this year, wanted a Windows tablet. “By Q3 2011, that picture had changed dramatically,” explains Gownder. “Windows was no longer No. 1 in choice preference, and interest among consumers dropped to 25%. Microsoft has missed the peak of consumer desire for a product they haven’t yet released.”

Microsoft is expected to be readying a Windows 8 beta for early 2012, around the same time as its Embedded plans. Recent pre-release beta builds indicate that the company has made it possible to fully customize the Start Screen experience in Windows 8. The big OEMs, including HP, Dell and ASUS are all reportedly preparing Windows 8 tablets for Q3 2012. Microsoft will likely unveil the final version of Windows 8 during the Summer months of 2012 in preparation for a holiday push of new tablets and form factors.

For more information on Windows 8 check out our dedicated section or the latest news below.

  • Anonymous

    I always wonder how these company still get to spill so much crap and still be in business. The word late could only apply if the world ends in 2012.

  • Martyn Metalous

    I beg to differ

  • Anonymous

    People are buying toys right now (iPad, Kindle), when they see that a Windows tablet can do what they could do on their PC they will fly off the shelves.

    • T6t

      Except they won’t see that because Win tablets won’t be able to do that. Sooo…

  • Chinonso

    Users are always intrested in new products.

  • http://techin5.com Jubbin Grewal @Techin5.com

    That’s quite incorrect in my opinion. I worked at an Asus promotional event all of last week, and the sheer number of people that came up to me asking (I was team leader) about Windows 8 and when it’ll be out (and they knew about the new look too!) was shocking to say the least.

    While I realize it’s a small group to take from, the fact that people were wondering when they could get their hands on Windows 8 is a good thing and I feel that drive will stay there for a while to get it. What’s even more surprising is that not everyone was a tech geek, some were just normal people with little tech knowledge, and even they were looking forward to Windows 8 (I made sure everyone knew that it was a Metro UI look first).

  • Allah

    I wonder how much Apple et al had pushed for a release like this… probably during a schmoozing event for industry people and anal-ysts… in return for some i-crap… iDiots!

    Who knows? Allah perhaps…

  • http://twitter.com/DaQuantumFro DaMarico Fowler

    Microsoft (as always) is DOOMED, DOOMED ;-)

    • Guest

      Losing a decade’s head start in both mobile and then tablets, and then taking THREE YEARS to respond in each, doesn’t exactly inspire confidence.

    • http://www.facebook.com/people/Jairo-Luciano-Alves/100002545369889 Jairo Luciano Alves

      But with Windows 8 they are not just catching up, they are moving ahead, since neither ICS nor iOS have brought the full OS functionality packed inside a light mobile device.

    • T6t

      Umm, neither has Microsoft.

  • Dmitry

    LOL

  • http://www.ratdiary.com spragued

    There’s an old story about Einstein — when he wanted to take a break from understanding the fundamental laws of the Universe and relax he would curl up with a book of etiquette rules and roll out of his chair laughing at the ridiculousness of its pronouncements. I think if he lived today, he’d be using analyst projections from Forrester.

  • http://twitter.com/tomaszprzywara Tomasz Przywara

    yeah yeah… between predictions and what will consumers really do, there is what we can call “gaps”, forrester; but hey! you have to earn money over something right?

    • http://www.facebook.com/people/Jairo-Luciano-Alves/100002545369889 Jairo Luciano Alves

      Run Forrester, Run!  :)

  • http://twitter.com/BasKoene Bas Koene

    Indeed, they’re too late. I am on Android now. But on desktop, I use Windows.

    • Guest

      Would you consider a Windows 8 tablet when it comes out? I feel that’s the key question – sure people are using other tablets right now, but will they considering buying a Windows 8 tablet in the future? If yes, then there’s still a chance.

  • Austin Agli

    i want to believe that windows will do a good job next year but it scares me to think that it really is too late for them

  • Anonymous

    Well if they come out in Mid 2013 – yeah they are going up against 4th generation tablets and very strong ecosystems. That is going to be a bit difficult and as hard as WP7.  Normally I would say this is bull, but mid-2013 is insanity to really enter this space. 

    • http://twitter.com/APSN910 Aaron Stark

      Except Windows already has a strong ecosystem in place and a W8 tablet will only build on that.   

    • Anonymous

      ARM tablets are due out mid 2013,  x86 is next year.  I have about 5% interest in ARM, and 95% interest in X86. I think a lot of people have similar feelings

    • Anonymous

      ARm tablets are going to be out next year.. tablets will be in 2013

  • http://twitter.com/MichielPapp Michiel Papp

    What the hell is wrong with these analysts? Oh nokia won’t sell any phones……..sold out in shops……..nokia stock plumits because asshole analysts.

    Windows 8 will be to late: Until it hits like a bombshell!

    Stop being negative, your gonne be wrong and you only damage the company’s stock by doing so!

    • Guest

      > nokia stock plumits because asshole analysts.
      Yeah, and these market analysts don’t even know that it was the worst week for EVERYONE in 70 years http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/americas/united-states/111125/us-markets-worst-thanksgiving-week-1942-dow

  • http://profiles.google.com/carlosrfonseca Carlos Ribeiro da Fonseca

    What’s funny is that the only tablet running Windows “8″ — the one Microsoft gave at BUILD — is made by Samsung, so they can build upon it, and also learn from the Galaxy Tab.

    If I had to guess, given that Microsoft and Samsung now are BFF, Samsung probably will have a tablet on the market pretty much as soon as Windows “8″ ships.

  • Anonymous

    these are the same guys that said windows 7 was too late and wouldn’t reverse the vista trend. so let’s just say they have a pretty bad record from the start.

    Second, tables are barrely a fraction of pc sales meaning people still think PCs are useful and will find a tablet that replaces their PC all the more useful than one that doesn’t (such as ipad/android). Currently only windows tablets can replace a PC completely meaning you don’t have to get a netbook/laptop to do real work AND buy a tablet in addition to that. People are cheap, nobody will buy two devices.

    Third, as the smartphome market shows, most of the market has yet to even adopt these devices leaving plenty of room for MSFT to arrive. Ipad sales are strong yet are dwarfed by pc sales and android tablet sales are in the toilet which mean even a moderately successful win8 launch should leave android in the dust and propel msft to wage war against the ipad. 

    Fourth, all the big PC makers have had really dissapointing results with android and all have promised windows 8 tablets as soon as they can, and unlike with windows phone, the hardware isn’t as locked so they are free to offer anything from 199 dollar to 999 dollar models and flood the market with tons of choices in the same way they do with android phones.

    Fifth, this is windows. it supports all the wizbang technology which means win8 tablets won’t be held back the way windows phones are held back by windows CE’s limitations.

    sixth, MSFT has billions of customers buying windows. These won’t suddently drop off. Even if only 10% of them use them, they would automatically be more successful than any tablet ever made including the ipad. you think about that for a minute and let it sink in. MSFT failure would outmatch apple’s greates hit.

    • http://www.facebook.com/people/Olisaebuka-Maduka/1332058518 Olisaebuka Maduka

      Dude, you said it all, +1000000000 to you Sir. Like you said, even if only a fraction of windows users become early win8 tablet adopters; even if this fraction is only just techys and nerds (unlikely as majority of everyday PC consumers use windows), win8 tablets will still come out hugely successful when compared to current tablet success margins.

      When you have over a billion users, 5% of your userbase is about 50,000,000; in essence, 5% early adopters of a new product taken from that userbase is one hell of a huge win in today’s tablet market.

    • Abc

      Being in false dream world is not good. Its this procrastination and taking for granted that windows users base is big..is making Microsoft  think that they can play the game as they wish…other players will leave MSFT far behind…

    • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_NZRPL7DK7DFQQO44J5TM4PQLGU Harvey

      I agree somewhat…but the issue with MS is the size of the ecosystem they have.  That and the name Windows.  You just can’t rush Windows changes to the market and make othe big changes when you have the type of marketshare they have.  We’re talking billions of “Windows” based PCs and devices in the wild.  And contrary to the “old” Windows, changes need to work.

      So they may be playing catchup in a way to the companies that have a much much smaller market share, but they have more to lose if they screw something up with a billion devices.

    • http://www.rwalrond.com RWalrond

      Wow, what neospark said.

      We should just copy and paste this reply to all the blogs that pick up this story.

    • J A

      Plus they are comparing Windows 8 to all the toys out there that users can barely do a thing with and cost $199.

    • BadManDuke

      Exactly.

      You should have seen the look on my dad’s face when he found out that the Android tablet he was so proud of, wouldn’t work with even half of the other devices that he has. (like his printer). –> :(

    • Tom

      That does not help Microsoft unless he buys a new PC.

      Microsoft’s problem is that they do too much and charge too little for it.

      (Who would’ve thought, circa 1999, that one could say that about Microsoft?)

    • Anonymous

      But but but…. my toyPad can play Angry Birds!

    • Anonymous

      Holly sh!t! You should really be an analyst at Forrester. Your vision seem to be much clearer since Forrester can’t see the trees past the for….

    • Anonymous

      Just an additional note, you guys have to realize that MSFT is not just bringing one option to marktet. MSFT will have low power ARM devices as well as high power x86 full blown desktop tablets. BOTH of these can be 100% customized as the manufacturer sees fit (just as Windows 7 is now for tablets and desktops). This means they can compete in the content consumption tablet marker (i.e. Android, iPad, etc) AS WELL AS the content creation market (i.e. oh wait, no other company has desktop tablets ;]) So, yeah, they’re late, but they’ll also STILL be the only option for a complete desktop experience on a tablet running an x86 (or god willing, x64) processor. 

      Maybe their ARM devices don’t take off from the start (basically just running the “start” menu from Windows 8) but if their full blown x86 tablets can reach the price point of nook and kindle, then why would you not buy a full blown computer over a big mobile experience?

      And, if anyone can make cheap Windows tablets it’s the manufacturers that have been doing it for years in the desktop and laptop world. HP makes $350 laptops, slap those same specs in a tablet and same price point, I’d buy one. ASUS could more than likely throw out a low end Win8 tablet. All these companies can drop tablets from the $200 price point all the way up to the $2000 “gaming tablet” price point (which could in theory offer an intense gpu as well as extra peripheral and docking options). It’s all there and if the manufacturers run with what they are given then we will see the Microsoft takeover by 2015 just like we’ve been hearing.

      2012 is the year of technology. Bring it on.

    • Seeweed999

      >these are the same guys that said windows 7 was too late and wouldn’t reverse the vista trend. so >let’s just say they have a pretty bad record from the start.

      Vista?  What about search, WinMo, virtualization.  They’re reacting to Microsoft’s long catalogue of failure.  Including the Xbox, which will come in last in sales this year and has lost 4 billion dollars.

      >Second, tables are barrely a fraction of pc sales Worldwide PC sales were about 350 million this year.  Apple has well over 200 million iOS devices in the wild and are projected to sell another 200 million next years, 50 million of which (at least) will be ipads.  So yes, PC sales are higher than tablets, but “barely a fraction”?  Please.>Currently only windows tablets can replace a PC completelyNo it can’t.  Windows 8 tables will only be able to run native ARM Metro apps.  So they will be no better than iOS or Android.  Where’s Win tablet’s killer app?

      >even a moderately successful win8 launch should leave android in the dust and propel msft to wage war against the ipad. 

      I’ll give you this.  But don’t count on them winning.

      >Fourth, all the big PC makers have had really dissapointing results with android and all have >promised windows 8 tablets as soon as they can, and unlike with windows phone, the hardware isn’t >as locked so they are free to offer anything from 199 dollar to 999 dollar models and flood the >market with tons of choices in the same way they do with android phones.Flooding the market doesn’t translate to sales.>sixth, MSFT has billions of customers buying windows. These won’t suddently drop off. Even if only >10% of them use them, they would automatically be more successful than any tablet ever made >including the ipad. you think about that for a minute and let it sink in. MSFT failure would outmatch >apple’s greates 

      Microsoft 75 million win 7 licenses last quarter.  If 10% buy tablets (which is REALLY optimistic), then they still come in under the iPad.  Sorry!! :)

    • K_ankit34

      Dude are you lost or just trying to behave another apple frick……xbox did not came last last year …..it came first and they did not lose the money but they are the biggest money spinner in whole Microsoft right now. So get your facts right…..i don’t know who gave you all did figure. May be Steve job pass it on before he died to push the Marketing blindness that he had done for so many years….. Come out of your blindness and get ready to buy one…….windows tablet,Xbox and windows phone 8….integration is future.

    • Anonymous

      Everything is false in that post … you know nothing.  Windows 8 tablets (Non-ARM) can run desktop apps as well as Metro UI app.  XBox is not last this year.

      Stick with your toypad (soon obsoleted by the toypad 3), I’ll buy a true tablet next year.

  • Anonymous

    Too late? I think a lot of people are holding out because the current tablets are too little (not quite powerful enough, not quite feature rich, not quite enterprise friendly, not quite useful beyond consumption of media and even then media consumption is fairly limited because of hardware performance).  Microsoft has never really been good at being early to the game, but coming in late and kicking ass is sort of their forte.

  • Anonymous

    That’s if Windows-based tablets are included only in iPad/Android marketshare.
    The fact is that Microsoft are going to create a separate market only for themselves; yes the enterprise marketshare.

  • Moppel

    Seems like Forrester is desperately trying to make fools of themselves, now even more so than before.

    Question: What’s the least needed occupational group in the modern world? – Right, Anal-lysts!

  • Anonymous

    Ask those same consumers if they want a tablet with Office on it? Or that they could play “Xbox” games on? My guess is they would still be very interested. Even the Apple faithful I know still use Office on their Mac’s and will not pay for iWork on the iPad because they see such little value in it.

  • Anonymous

    So when they released their initial report saying that 42% of people was interested, you guys cheered. Now that they saying interest have waned, you call them idiots? (o_0)

    • Guest

      Reading impaired? There’s no “you guys”. As you can see from the comments, there’s a range of opinion from strongly agree through strongly disagree and some don’t knows.

      It’s called thinking for yourself, something a shill like you would know nothing about.

    • Anonymous

      You must be one of the idiots I was referring to. It have nothing to do with thinking for yourself, it about the result from the survey. And the survey says….

    • Guest

      Actually your statement was about the reactions here to the study, not the study per se. But clearly English isn’t your native language, so I can see how you got confused.

  • http://www.mainstreetchatham.com/ JimmyFal

    hahahhhhahhahahhahhaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhahhahhahhahhahhahhhahhahhahahahhahahhahahhahahahahhahahhahahahhahhahahahhahhahahhhahhhahahhhahhahahhahaha.

  • Chuck

    Relax people!  Don’t be too harsh on Forrester.  They are using these “negative” analysis to try to rush Microsoft.  They are hoping that Microsoft will hurry the hell up when they see the decline in interest and release Windows 8 soon instead of later.  I don’t blame them though…. I am starting to hate Microsoft for getting me excited then make me wait for a very long time.  Look at how Apple does it…  they announce their products right before they release them.  Waiting makes people lose interest.

    • Anonymous

      just do what I did, pick up Dell’s 23″ touch screen monitor and throw the developer preview on your desktop or laptop. My impatience is solved for now =P 

      BTW, monitor is Dell ST2220t =]

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_NISFTYXF5K32DRTG5SHSPCB3HM PETER H

    I’ll wait, I want  tablet that will do everything I want it do, not just some of it and my WP7 rocks…

  • Anonymous

    Its not like people will have a choice.. win8 will be the only real tablet you can get.. you like it or not you will have to buy one.. 

  • http://twitter.com/akicktotheeye E Pluribus Unum

    Late to the party?… Yeah, a little. But if they come out swinging with low price points for Win8 tablets the business world will definitely take notice (I think Windows Phone is headed that way as well) and the average consumer will be happy to adopt Win8 tablets as Microsoft integrates the next-gen X-box, Windows Phone, desktops & tablets.

  • Anonymous

    Pretty disheartening if this is indeed the truth.  I was really excited to get a Windows Tablet next year but pushing it to 2013 they are in fact doomed.  iPad 3 will be out by then.  Who wants to bet they take some notes from Android and MS?

    • http://twitter.com/laserfloyd Lewis McCrary

      x68 will be out next year.  ARM is 2013.

    • Anonymous

      ARM tablets will be 2012, ARM laptops were said to be 2013, but even that is speculation at this point.

    • Guest

      W8 being available at all during 2012 is speculation at this point. MS hasn’t give a date. There’s been no beta yet. Nobody knows what issues the beta will uncover. Nobody therefore knows when it might eventually RTM. OEMs typically need up to 90 days to go from RTM to shipping units. It’s not at all inconceivable that W8 doesn’t RTM before late fall of next year, meaning no in market availability until early 2013.

    • Anonymous

      @Guest Which is why I said it’s speculation.  I was just correcting his false “factual” speculation with my “reported” speculation. =)  Hope that made sense.  I assumed he said 2013 due to the earlier rumor today about laptops not arriving until 2013, but it said tablets were still supposedly slated for 2012.  All of it is speculation of course, but at least stick to the known rumors ya know?

    • Guest

      @fwaits:disqus 

      No prob. I was just elaborating on your correction of his misstatement ;-)

      Also, a lot of people see “tablets in 2012″ and assume that means W8-equipped. That’s not necessarily the case. It’s entirely possible that those units will ship with W7 and a free upgrade to W8 when it is available. As has occurred in previous release cycles.

      MS absolutely needs to get W8-tablets into the market no later than fall 2012. That’s already far too late, but it would still give them a chance of turning this around before Apple and Google run away with the market as they have with mobile.

  • http://www.TheGuruReview.net TGR

    First, I do not know everyone hates Microsoft, especially Bloggers and Analyst.  However, if Microsoft releases a tablet next year as planned many consumers will buy them.  I actually think the top Android Tablet makers will jump ship because they have had over a year an have not made a dent in tablet sales.  The reason why the Kindle fire is selling well is because it is cheap.  If Win8 tablets cost below $400 they will take off, enough said.

    • http://www.facebook.com/people/Shameer-Mulji/1685212657 Shameer Mulji

      Compared to Windows 8 Android is junk.  The user experience is horrible plus the developer tools don’t even compare to Windows.  I will use iPad 2 long before an Android tablet.

  • http://twitter.com/DavidElroyGreen Antonio Raga

    These “researches” are full of inconsistencies and fallacies, based on personal opinions, flawed data and other unreliable stuff. They are only estimating actual money and investor trends. And they can’t say nothing, scientifically, about future which is widely unknown. You can take them as an indication of something, but you can well do the reverse.

  • Anonymous

    Slate tablets for the WIN MS needs to educate users whats the difference between an Application and a Program and showcase that Windows 8 slate tablets can run both :) while iPads and Androids can only run apps

  • Nathaniel Pardillo

    I refuse to get a tablet , i dont want to work on a mini mac or a mini windows, that being said i’ll wait for a full windows 8 OS.

    • http://www.facebook.com/people/Shameer-Mulji/1685212657 Shameer Mulji

      definte full Windows 8 OS.  Last time I checked there’s only one version designed to run on X86 & ARM.  The only difference being that the ARM version will not run legacy apps.

  • http://twitter.com/laserfloyd Lewis McCrary

    Right now you walk into Best Buy and see the iPads on display.  In another year you’ll see the same iPad display but it will be directly across from a slew of tablets running Windows 8.  People will see what it can do and how much it costs and it will be the logical choice.

    A huge deal is USB and perhaps an SD slot.  Sounds trivial but I’d love to have the ability to pop photos/files onto my device without having to SYNC even if syncing is wireless.  If iPad3 can bring that, then it’ll compete well.  If not, then move over and let the grown ups do it. :)

    • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=11814278 Chris Woelfel

      I think that the use of a pen with OneNote is the best.

  • Root

    Most of these so-called “anal-ysts” are iFruitcake fan-gheys that’s why anything that threatens their favorite Reality Distortion Field-emitting company and their late, unlamented jerk of a founder who parks his car on the disabled slot, humiliates waitresses and contributed $0 to charity, are automatically downplayed and pooh-poohed.

  • Anonymous

    No company can ever be late. It is more of you just have the guts to stay longer in the game (ehem, HP) and a good game plan. 

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_NZRPL7DK7DFQQO44J5TM4PQLGU Harvey

    Here we go with the ”Late-To-The-Party” deal again.  They are not late.  They are on schedule to deliver Windows 8 on the same time frame that they delivered Windows 7.

    But this time, their are putting a twist on it.  Windows 8 will ALSO have a “Tablet” optimzed interface and experience.

    Not only that, they are engeneering the “SAME” Windows to also work on “ARM” based devices.

    Ballmer was right when he was talking about Windows 8 being thier riskiest bet.

    Although the article talking about ARM was referring to a 2013 ARM based “notebook”, anything “ARM” based ( I believe ) will be outsold by its x86 counterpart.  Even if an ARM based “tablet” hits in 2012.  I think most of us want the “full” power of Windows on a tablet.

    Late, nahhh…maybe the author just publishing articles to try and push MS.

    • Guest

      MS was the leader in tablets before iPad. Now they’re less than 5% of the market, Android is established as the alternate to iPad, and Apple has sold 50M units and will have v3 out (at least) before MS has its v1 product. And you think MS isn’t late?

    • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_NZRPL7DK7DFQQO44J5TM4PQLGU Harvey

      Repeat that to me one year after Windows 8 tablets hit the market.

      MS may have led tablets before the iPad, but was there really a market then?
      Android is NOT the established alternative to the iPad, it was the ONLY alternative…before the Kindle.

      If there were such a thing as being late to the game, then there would be no innovation at all.
      I believe that some innovation comes when a company enters a already established market with many big names, introduces something VERY new and completly changes everything about that market.

      Hell, search was already having a party and then out of nowhere….GOOGLE beats the hell out of everyone playing and thinking about playing that game!

      Am I saying that Windows 8 will be a game changer?  No.  But they will Windows 8 will continue to dominate ( PCs and tablets ).

      Nahhh….never too late to join the party!!

    • Guest

      That’s an argument for why they may not be ”too” late. The topic was them being late, which they undeniably are.

  • http://profiles.google.com/carlosrfonseca Carlos Ribeiro da Fonseca

    Oh, I forgot:

    Microsoft is usually late to the game.

    When Word was released, everybody used either WordPerfect or WordStar, and where are they now?
    Microsoft only came up with a real GUI based OS with Windows 95, Apple has been doing it since, well, forever. Who owns 95% of that market now?
    Microsoft completely missed the Internet revolution, and let Netscape takeover the market. Well, where’s Netscape now?

    Microsoft’s strenght is not changing the game (that’s Apple), its sticking with it and winning by wearing out the competion (but, to be fair, Word was way better than WordPerfect, or should I say Crashperfect, and IE 6 was much better than Netscape Communicator, or should I say Netscape well, you get the idea :) )

    • Guest

      Yeah, that worked well up to the late 90′s. It hasn’t worked very well since. Times have changed. Competitors are better and now more closely matched (Apple is actually bigger now by revenue and market cap and has more cash). MS’s grip on the OEM channel has weakened considerably and the internet has made that former distribution advantage moot anyway. Apple and Google now have the momentum and popular mindshare. MS has a considerable image problem, etc.

      When MS has been late now (search, virtualization, the cloud, mobile since the WM fiasco, tablets) it has struggled to remain among the leaders, usually at high cost.

      It’s not an advisable path to continue on.

    • Avatar Roku

      Xbox came out in the 90s?

    • Guest

      I said “hasn’t worked very well since”, not “hasn’t worked at all”. And Xbox is a pretty dubious example of success. You know it’s likely to finish this generation last in worldwide unit sales and is still about $4 billion in the red after more than decade, right?

  • Guest

    I don’t disagree. Outside of mobile, this is the biggest failure MS has ever had. They were caught completely unprepared by iPad, which itself should have been deeply troubling since MS was the leader in this space and had years to look at iPhone and iPod touch and anticipate an eventual Apple tablet. And the subsequent decision not to allow WP on tablets or even optimize/modify W7 embedded in the interim so they could at least have something in market while waiting for W8 was the stupidest decision they ever made. This was a market MS pioneered, and through their own competitive misjudgment and incompetence they are now not only years late, but perhaps too late to ever recover a leading position. Ballmer should have been fired over this. It likely marked the peak in Windows dominance of PC OSes. By the time W8 hits the market, MS’s effective share of PCs will have fallen more in three years than it did in the previous ten combined. Growing Windows revenue will now be very challenging and the impact on Office hasn’t even begun to show up yet. But Office doesn’t run on iPad or Android, and even when it does MS won’t be able to charge the premium it has on PCs.

    W8 will get some traction. But MS’s best hope now is to try and dominate the enterprise segment of the tablet market. Everything else will be dominated by iPad and Android.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1724462076 Tim Mariner

    This report is laughable!  The tablet market is defined right now as devices that can do the web and launch apps.  While these are useful functions for many, this isn’t where Win 8 tablets are headed.  Win 8 tablets will be small form factor, fully-functioning computers running a next-generation operating system.

    All MS has to do is clearly differentiate it’s Win 8 tablets from the rest of the field and it will surely win.  Think about it–MS’s potential market is the entire PC market.  If a fraction of PC users buy in, Win 8 tablets will be huge!  In fact, the only thing that would hurt Win 8 tablet sales is if people thought they were just another mobile OS tablet offering.

  • Anonymous

    i don’t care if there are late or will be late what i know for sure is i will get one for my self if the world don’t come to an end in 2012 as the Mayan predicted 

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=11814278 Chris Woelfel

    Type your comment here.I’m Using the commercial version of that tablet, thr Series 7 state. I put Windows 8 on it, and everyone from parents to friends to coworkers, all love it. When I show them the pen, it’s instant attraction. Windows 8 is the true “tablet” in my eyes.

    • T6t

      As Steve Jobs said “if you see a stylus, they’ve blown it.” and he was right. Apple sold more tablets in a year than Microsoft could in a decade, and it still took MS 3 years to copy that. What a joke.

    • Brock_co

      Thing thing with the pen for windows tablets though is that its actually a pen that you can write with. That’s the biggest thing that any windows tablet has over the pad. Its the difference between taking notes with a pen and a crayon. Your telling me there is no market for i realistic note taking tablet?

  • S1lence

    LOL! I don’t know if I ever read such a bullshit befor. I don’t know anybody here (austria) how is really interested in tablets (yet). Thats because nobody really knows what to do with a tablet. Yeah you can play a little bit, surf in the internet .. ! But most people do that on their laptop and phones and don’t need another device for that! But here is the point on windows tablets: They will change that. You’ll get the chance to completly replace your desktop or laptop by using a Win8 Table (plus docking-station)! That makes it interesting…not just another fun device where you can’t use the tools your’re used too! 

  • Anonymous

    This reminds me of Two Stupid Dogs cartoon – Well, ain’t that cute…? But it’s wrong! :) ))
    I don’t care if Windows 8 tablet is late, or not. I will wait for it. It’s worth it.

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_NZRPL7DK7DFQQO44J5TM4PQLGU Harvey

    What about this as a prediction or analysis……….
    -Windows 8 comes out on tablets and is a huge success.
    -In true MS fashion, there will be 500 windows SKus  :)
    -The bottom Sku (like the Windows starter) comes out on tablet hardware that barely meets minimum specs.
    -MS and its partners sell that “starter” tablet for $199…..with “anytime upgrade” option giving the user to update to Windows 8 Ultimate at their own pace.
    -Amazon and other “low price” tablet makers cry and ask the Justice Department to look into Microsoft’s “unfair” behavior
    -Analysts like the one that gave this prediction get fired and gets hire to write blogs for MS….
    -THEN….predictions from new analysts…Windows 9 will fail and it DOOM again for MS
    -….and so on and so on …..
    LOL

  • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_KGXUCCX3XWK3Z5ZHMENRYQ5YM4 SubversiveInASuit

    I have a WP7 phone , want a tablet and I’m waiting to purchase a Windows 8 tablet. 

  • Polish

    Forrester is an idiot.
    Itunes came very late to the play and now its one of the top players downloaded today. Windows Phone 7 is very late and still its doing great! Windows 7 came very late and its one of the best operating systems in a decade! Windows 8 tablets will be very late but still this is one of my most anticipated gadgets. Members at Costco are asking me if they should wait for the Windows 8 tablet or go for something like Android and then when the metro style tablet comes out, give the useless one to their kids.
    Having an actual PC in a tablet will change the perspective on tablets all together!
    I have a feeling that the Windows 8 tablet will be a top seller just simply because it is a pc! Anyone cares to tell me what tablet can connect a regular mouse and keyoard or a printer to a tablet via USB? I didn’t think so.

  • http://circuitsoft.tumblr.com CircuitSoft

    Guess what Forrester? I am not longer interested in you. You’ll be in a stupid third-generation craphole before I even see your CEO. 

  • Timothey Neinherz

    One word: IDIOT.

    • http://www.facebook.com/people/Shameer-Mulji/1685212657 Shameer Mulji

      You day idiot, I say douchebag.

  • Robin Ashe

    Part of it is likely right. With the Kindle Fire, Nook Tablet, even the Kobo Vox all coming out around the $200-$250 price point, and the Transformer Prime being absolutely gorgeous, consumer interest in Android tablets has increased. That doesn’t necessarily mean that interest in a Windows 8 tablet has decreased, just that things are looking better for Android. And really, with ICS, something would be wrong if consumer interest hadn’t increased.

    And really, the key here is Asus. They make pretty much the only Android tablet that really interests people (I don’t think hype or interest in the Galaxy Tab is nearly the same). They’ll make a Transformer with Windows 8. And it will sell. Boatloads. The questions is whether Asus will continue making Android Transformers to keep up with demand for the Windows 8 ones.

  • Anonymous

    These “No longer Interested Consumers” will be the first in line to get one, once released…