Ballmer concedes iPad progress, but vows a Microsoft comeback |
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Ballmer concedes iPad progress, but vows a Microsoft comeback
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer today acknowledged the momentum seen by Apple's iPad in the market for slate-style, consumer-oriented computers -- a sector that his company has been trying to crack, without as much success, for the better part of the past decade.
But Microsoft hasn't given up on the market, he said, noting that the company sees new hope on the horizon.
"They’ve sold certainly more than I’d like them to sell, let me just be clear about that," Ballmer said after raising the topic of Apple's iPad during a speech this afternoon at the company's Financial Analyst Meeting in Redmond. "We have got to make things happen. Just like we had to make things happen on netbooks, we’ve got to make things happen with Windows 7 on slates, and we’re in the process of doing that as we speak."
That was a reference to the turnaround seen by the company in the market for small, Web-oriented notebook computers, also known as netbooks, a sector of the PC market that Microsoft has come back to dominate after the open-source Linux operating system jumped out to an early lead.
Ballmer said Microsoft is in a good position to work with PC makers on compelling alternatives to the iPad, based on its work in areas such as digital ink and touch-based input. Another boost will come with the release of Intel's Oak Tree line of low-powered computer processors early next year, he said.
Tablets and slates are a "job one urgency around here," Ballmer said. "Nobody is sleeping at the switch."
Update: The subject of tablets also came up repeatedly during later Q&A session with the analysts, showing just how much the iPad is on the mind of investors.
In response to Ballmer's suggestion that the netbook market is a precedent for Microsoft rebounding in slates, one analyst pointed out that Microsoft isn't competing against a smaller competitor such as Ubuntu Linux in slates, it's competing against not only Apple but also Google, whose Android operating system is designated for a number of upcoming slates.
"If we can’t compete against whatever the weird collection of android machines is going to look like, shame on us," Ballmer said.
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