Microsoft CEO Reveals Plans For Tablet To Rival iPad

REDMOND, Wash. -- Microsoft will compete with Apple's iPad, but it isn't saying when.

Microsoft Corp. CEO Steve Ballmer says the company is working with Intel Corp. and computer makers to perfect tablet touch-screen computers.

Analysts attending an annual meeting at Microsoft headquarters on Thursday got few concrete details. Ballmer did say Windows tablets will use Intel processors for the foreseeable future.

"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," the CEO said.

He added, "We'll be in market as soon as we can," noting that developing a tablet is "job one urgency around here." "Nobody is sleeping at the switch," he said.

But he added that whether it's "really, really soon, or just really, pretty soon, I'm going to wait until I have a device I want to hand you and tell you to go use."

Ballmer says Apple Inc. has "done an interesting job" with the iPad, and says Apple has sold more of the devices than he would like--"They've sold certainly more than I'd like them to sell, let me just be clear about that," he said.

The CEO also addressed the potential competition from a "Google Tablet" that the Mountain View firm reportedly has in the works. "If we can't compete against whatever the weird collection of android machines is going to look like, shame on us," Ballmer said.

Comments

[rikster]

05:43 PM on 08/06/2010

once again...Microsoft follows....!

[AShiraz]

12:45 PM on 08/06/2010

Microsoft has an unrivaled ergonomic keyboard which the one-finger typists in the "other" world have probably never used. One hopes that similar design innovations (like the thinkpad before lenovo etc.) makes headway. Competition is always good for everyone and keeps everyone from taking their customers for granted. Apple designers may want to pay attention to those who use computers heavily (engineers, scientists etc,) as opposed to "hipsters" who are more into buying $50 martinis and living in boxes in overcrowded cities.

[Winski]

08:41 PM on 08/02/2010

HA! It's a wonder Balmer can even say 'Tablet' without getting out a bottle of Vicodin or KY-Jelly (only at a customer call) to use for his own amusement...

Can you imagine...Microshaft spends $1BILLION on R&D for a 'tablet' and another $1 billion on 'advertising' and it lasts the same amount of time the Microshaft iPhone killer....tee...hee....

[Shookones]

07:56 PM on 08/02/2010

MSFT = no innovation, just me too! or me three! They've failed with the Zuen, bet on HD and got killed by PS3 and Blu Ray and they've failed most recently with their mobile phone they tried to bring to market.

[JudScott]

01:51 PM on 08/02/2010

He is such a bad CEO, why does microsoft keep him around?

[SilentSolidarity]

02:11 AM on 08/02/2010

Give up. We are talking about ridiculous monopolistic competition here. No Windows user is going to buy this and Apple users are to arrogant to buy a Microsoft product. And forget the Linux users, they are all Android. Windows is already on all netbooks and I would always buy a netbook over a tablet.

[bryanzth]

07:38 PM on 08/01/2010

Windows Me Slate. Hmm.

Zuen. Hmm.

Windows. Hmm.

BZ.

[MIKEinNYC]

05:44 PM on 08/01/2010

I would not hold my breath waiting for this one. Microsoft has never been that big when it comes to hardware.

[spyguy68]

12:59 AM on 08/02/2010

Other than gaming system, MS has avoided the hardware business and chosen to partner with hundreds of hardware builders (that is how they got to over 1.5 billion installed base of Windows systems).

MS will not actually design and build a pad, but will partner with lots of companies to make lots of pad designs come to the market.

[JudScott]

01:52 PM on 08/02/2010

good luck with that

[Whinger]

01:42 PM on 08/01/2010

Copy-Cat, the evil empire has missed the bus, as usual.

[aligatorhardt]

10:18 AM on 08/01/2010

With all the talk about the next I-Pad killer I completely dozed off. Hey! where is it? Too much talk and not enough action. Bring it on, let the facts speak for themselves. Apple innovates, others pout.

[bernusdellus]

06:47 AM on 08/01/2010

microsoft never seems to understand that always copying Apple, then trying to out-market them, is a strategy that can never succeed. A stern chase is a long chase.

By the time they've got their iPad knockoff ready to ship, Apple will have moved on to another great new idea.

Instead of slavishly [and pathetically] dogging Apple's footsteps, they could be out there carving their own niche and coming up with new technology to push a few boundaries.

Its not going to happen. They're just too obsessed with their market share to have any energy left over for genuine innovation. Plus, doing it this way, they can selectively copy only the successful ideas.

Risk averse and run by accountants. Not a good recipe for a supposedly technology company.

[taxolotl]

05:52 AM on 08/01/2010

i'm hopeful windows can make a solid and elegant tablet, but the comment about android at the end indicates to me they may be grossly underestimating their competition.

[disgruntledprogressives]

01:38 AM on 08/01/2010

Microsoft is permanently behind its rivals. They're blowin' in the wind. They'll never catch up to Steve Jobs again

[MaxPowerXP]

02:37 AM on 08/01/2010

yes, we can only hope that they will one day catch up to Apple's 10% desktop penetration

[bernusdellus]

06:48 AM on 08/01/2010

What percentage of desktop hardware is manufactured by microsoft? 0%

10% looks pretty good.

[JohnUSA]

05:19 PM on 08/01/2010

In the $1000 and up segment Apple leads with 70% of desktops and 64% of notebooks.
Not to mention the iPhone, iPod.

[Robespierre]

12:26 AM on 08/01/2010

MS-Pad

Sounds like a feminine napkin.

[Pectin]

12:47 AM on 08/01/2010

What an incredibly clever, witty, and original comment.

How do you do it?

[disgruntledprogressives]

01:40 AM on 08/01/2010

Sounds like...Mouse-Pad?

[Robespierre]

12:15 AM on 08/01/2010

Uh huh, sure. Wake me in 10 years when it actually works!

Ballmer is the ultimate used car salesman!

[disgruntledprogressives]

01:42 AM on 08/01/2010

He sure looks, acts, and talks like one!

[JohnUSA]

05:22 PM on 08/01/2010

True, but he's 3 times richer than Steve Jobs

[bryanzth]

07:50 PM on 08/01/2010

Meh.

BZ.