Microsoft Admits the Surface Tablet Release Could Be Burning Bridges with OEMs

Posted by on July 27 at 12:04pm
Ashley is a 26 year old with an enthusiasm for all things technology related. She hails from the Southern United States and when she's not tweaking her Android handset, she can usually be found in front of the computer or Xbox 360 enjoying the latest game releases.
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Over the past few days, several major players in the games industry have criticized Microsoft for Windows 8. These names include Gabe Newell of Valve Software and Rob Pardo from Blizzard. For those of you who may not recognize these names, Newell’s Valve manages Steam, the largest digital distribution platform for PC games on the market and Pardo represents Blizzard, the company behind the massively popular World of Warcraft MMO.

Ultimately these representatives are critical of Windows 8 because of how it will affect their businesses, but perhaps the thing Microsoft should be worried about is OEMs ditching the software company for open source pastures. Microsoft finally acknowledged that the release of the Surface tablet will strain its relationship with OEMs.

“…our Surface devices will compete with products made by our OEM partners, which may affect their commitment to our platform.”

The fact that Microsoft is acknowledging this issue has people like Newell worried.

“I think that Windows 8 is kind of a catastrophe for everybody in the PC space. I think that we’re going to lose some of the top-tier PC [original equipment manufacturers]. They’ll exit the market. I think margins are going to be destroyed for a bunch of people. If that’s true, it’s going to be a good idea to have alternatives to hedge against that eventuality.”

So what’s the alternative, then? Well, Valve recently announced that its Steam platform could be coming to Linux. As major players in software begin to shift away from Microsoft in preparation for what they see as a terrible move, will Windows 8 ultimately cause Microsoft’s downfall?

 

  • http://www.gamesobscura.com/ themizarkshow

    I think some bridges probably needed burning in their case. A lot of OEMs are the reason why people hate on Windows, because their low-end hardware and bloatware software make the experience awful.

    If Microsoft can use this to make the OEMs they do work with have awesome products and make some great stuff of their own, they could turn around people’s sour sentiments toward the platform.

  • http://www.2girls1game.com Ashley K.

    If that’s the case though, by logic the Android platform will be in need of the same treatment in a few years. The Android experience ranges from terrible to amazing even among top-tier OEMs like Samsung.

  • http://www.gamesobscura.com/ themizarkshow

    Yeah but Android is an open platform. OEM’s aren’t really skinning it anymore as much as they are building their own version of it. Unless they take away the open source side of it, that will always be a thing.

    But with Windows, it is a license and they haven’t been regulating what shitty things OEMs do to their product. I should not have to pay extra to get a Windows disc from the place I buy my PC just so I can reformat it and make the thing functional. That’s where they lose customers to Apple in the personal computer space more than anything else.