Acer CEO warns Microsoft to ‘think twice’ about Surface

In an interview to FT, JT Wang, the CEO of Acer, has revealed that he has warned told Microsoft to think twice about what it’s doing. This is in reference to the Microsoft Surface Windows 8 tablet, which was announced back in June this year.

I believe there is a 50-50 chance of Microsoft having a low-key launch, if not backing out completely. You ask me the reasons?

1. Surely, none of the OEMs is comfortable with Microsoft competing with them directly. It’s true that OEM’s have to take the blame themselves for being lethargic and not innovating enough to let Apple run away with tablet iPad market. But then, competing head-on with Microsoft will dilute their stake in tablet market (which is already negligible). Will they all get together and convince Microsoft to stay away? Mind you, Microsoft too cannot afford to pi$$ off the OEMs, no matter how unhappy it is with them.

2. Surface is still a mystery. Though Microsoft demoed some cool things about Windows 8 and Surface tablet in Los Angeles, they never allowed anyone from the media to even get close to either the tablet or the accessories. We still don’t know who’s actually building Surface for Microsoft. Is Surface just a vaporware as some people think? Chances are bleak, but history says Microsoft is capable of that.

3. Even if it’s not vaporware, Microsoft has made it clear that they will not sell the Surface tablets in retail stores, but only on their own online stores. So, will Surface be just a benchmark device for Windows 8? The sort of product which excites many but doesn’t really have a future?

As much as I love to see and buy Microsoft Surface, I cannot rule out any possibilities at this point.