Microsoft has a goal for its well-received line of Windows 8 tablets, according to Paul Thurrott. Sources have revealed the company plans to take up and maintain 50 percent of all Windows tablet sales in the coming year with their Surface lineup. Microsoft already achieved this figure in Q1 2013 when Surface hardware took 50 percent of the Windows tablet pie, but there's more to the story.
One of Thurrott's sources for this rumour states that Microsoft has specific Surface targets for fiscal year 2014, which kicks off on July 1st. While it's worth noting that this is indeed a rumour and some salt should be present when reading through, here's what the company is reportedly looking at:
- Surface sales - to sell 25 million Surface devices, compared to less than 1 million units in Q1 of 2013.
- Enterprise tablets - to become the number one enterprise tablet provider.
- Retail tablet sales - to smash through the retail market and take the number two provider position for tablets.
- Education - the company will bid for each and every available opportunity for tablets in education.
- Distribution - to become the top tablet choice of its distribution partners, which will help push sales through resellers.
So how would Microsoft go about tackling the above goals? The company will be pumping up its marketing, according to Thurrott's sources. With a reported budget of $4.4 billion, we'd be sure to see a strong push similar to what was witnessed with the Xbox. If this information is correct, consumers can expect to see the availability of Surface products expand to Columbia, Poland, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, South Africa, India, and Malaysia.
Internal documentation states that Microsoft is holding the success of Surface as a top company priority. It makes sense when one thinks about the family of products and how Microsoft has been rejuvenating the brand of not only the company name, but Windows too. For the company to have its own hardware in multiple markets, Microsoft will be able to ensure the user experience is top notch.
Source: WinSuperSite
