June has long been unofficially reserved as Apple’s month for unveiling, debuting and in some cases releasing titanic new hardware – though you may have notice this wasn’t to be the case this year.
In fact, cast your mind back to the major product announcements of June and anything bearing the Apple logo will in all likelihood rank rather low in the minds of most, as both Google and Microsoft well and truly stole the show from the Cupertino powerhouse.
Windows Surface Tablet
Microsoft didn’t exactly come out of nowhere with the unveiling of its new Windows 8 Surface Tablet, as we’d been expecting to see something similar joint the affray for quite some time now. However, given the fact that the tablet itself is indeed the first piece of PC hardware to be made directly by Microsoft in the history of the company, its arrival was a biggie.
Fast-forward just on short week and Google gave us all an equally expected surprise in the form of the Google Nexus 7 tablet, which has also been rumored for the better part of a year. What sets the Nexus 7 apart from the competition is the way in which it offers truly high-end specs for a bargain $199 price tag, which alone is guaranteed to be enough to launch the thing into the stratosphere and beyond.
So, it pretty much goes without saying that although Google and Microsoft’s core passion still lies in software – accounting for around 95% of all Google’s sales – both are neck-deep in something of a love affair with hardware creation.
The question is not only why, but also why now?
A Leaf from Apple’s Book?
Well, the answer may come in the form of certain Cupertino company’s long-standing business model which to date hasn’t been touched by any rival company to even the slightest extent. Apple has rocketed to fame as the most successful ad revered technology company the world has ever seen for what seems to be one specific reason – its integrated and in-house hardware/software projects make for an unparalleled user experience on each and every device.
In the cases of Google and Microsoft on the other hand, variety may once have been the spice of life but something of an “open” development model is leading further and further into quite biblical fragmentation.
Or to put it in simpler terms, there is the unified iOS experience and then there is the Android experience which is somewhat different on every single handset and tablet it features on the world over.
Loss of Focus
The problem is, or at least the problem certain analysts are beginning to show concern over, is the way in which a shift toward a new business model at this stage in the game is not only risky, but could be quite frankly suicidal. For each and every effort focused on hardware, industry experts fear that Microsoft and Google may somewhat shun their primary software products and end up heading down a less than ideal path.
Truth is, over recent months is has become more apparent than ever before that software and apps are becoming far more important than the power and prowess of devices they are to run on, which is something that simply must be at the forefront of any considerations of new directions either company makes.
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