6 TECH ADVISOR • MAY 2020
NEWS
ascompany executives noted execution problems
within the consumer Surface business.
Obviously, the Windows teams and the Surface
hardware group work at the same company, so a
certain amount of collaboration would be natural. This
does take it to the next level, however. Microsoft has
traditionally synchronized its Surface announcements
with corresponding updates within Windows, although
it was really the October, 2018 Surface launch when
Panay and Yusuf Mehdi, Microsoft’s corporate vice
president of what Microsoft then called Modern Life
andDevices,overtlytiedproductsliketheSurface
Pro 6 to collaboration, Office, and Windows.
PC makers worried that Microsoft was trying to take
over the PC business when the tech giant launched
theoriginalSurfacemanyyearsago.Inresponse,
MicrosoftpositioneddevicesliketheSurfacetablet
andthe Surface Studio as trailblazers, establishing a
market that PC makers could then fill out.
Of course, Microsoft’s ‘trailblazing’ efforts haven’t
always led to a surge in similar products. Consider the
Windows tablet market: the Surface Pro (2017), Surface
Pro 6, and the recent Surface Pro 7 simply haven’t faced
much competition, as OEMs somewhat de-emphasized
tablets in favour of more traditional clamshell designs.
Ontheotherhand,Microsoftwillfollowcompanies
likeLenovo and its ThinkPad X1 Fold into the market
with the foldable Surface Neo, due this autumn.
Does Microsoft’s reorganization pose a dire threat
to the greater PC industry? Of course not. But it might
have a demoralizing effect on PC makers, some of
which have to feel that Microsoft’s moves make it
