Day: February 10, 2013

Microsoft tried mightily to spin the outages that they are having on Surface Pro as a runaway success. But, was it just that they didn’t build enough?

Surface Pro Demand: Don’t Believe The Hype

“Headlines over the last week have been abuzz with claims that 200 million global workers are clamoring for a Windows 8 tablet, if not for a Surface Pro in particular. The figure is an extrapolation of data collected for Forrester’s 2013 Mobile Workforce Adoption Trends, which surveyed almost 10,000 information workers in 16 countries and found that 32% of respondents want Windows running on their next work tablet.

The figure easily outpaces the proportion of people who said they want an iPad (26%) or an Android device (12%). It has prompted speculation that Microsoft is pushing enterprise mobility across a new Rubicon, one defined by not only touchscreens and thin form factors but also true multitasking, legacy application support and laptop-level computing power. Does this demand mean that Surface Pros will fly off the shelves when they go on sale this weekend, restoring Microsoft to its place atop OS world and erasing memories of the lackluster Surface RT launch?

Probably not.

To be clear, Surface Pro isn’t likely to flop either. But there’s little evidence that Redmond’s new device will achieve more than a modest launch, let alone turn tides industry-wide. Notably, Gartner’s numbers were collected in September and October — before either Windows 8 or Surface RT were commercially available. Microsoft has since sold 60 million Windows 8 licenses but failed to galvanize Ultrabook sales or position its Surface RT as a BYOD favorite. Given these developments, it’s conceivable that Forrester’s respondents liked the concept of a Windows 8 tablet in theory but lost enthusiasm as they investigated actual options.”

Are we sure that there is no market for buggy whips? Yikes! This headline is totally crazy!

AOL’s Dial-Up Subscription Business Produces More Than All Of The Company’s Profit

“AOL just released quasi-profit numbers for each of its divisions for the first time.

As expected, AOL’s dial-up subscription business–the business that powered AOL to astounding global success in the 1990s–still accounts for the vast majority of AOL’s profits.

In fact, AOL’s subscription business generates more than all of the company’s profits, after accounting for AOL’s corporate costs.

On the one hand, this is really bad news, because AOL’s subscription business is still shrinking.

On the other hand…

This shrinking business still throws off an amazing amount of cash–about $500 million a year–that AOL can use and is using to invest in other cool businesses (content and an ad network).

And the shrinking dial-up business is shrinking at a much slower rate than it used to–because AOL is finding ways of adding other value for its subscribers.

In fact, it is not inconceivable that AOL will find ways to add enough value for its subscribers that the subscription business will soon stop shrinking and start growing again. And if that happens…. wow. AOL will have a built-in marketing engine (content and ad network) with which it can market subscriptions at very low cost. And given the profitability of this business, AOL’s profit could suddenly begin to grow very rapidly.”