Craig Mundie explains Microsoft's growing interest in hardware and the reasons behind the Surface

Craig Mundie, one of Steve Ballmer's top advisers at Microsoft, took advantage of his speech at the TechForum held this week in Redmond to discuss changes in Microsoft's current strategy and increased focus on hardware. Along the way, he had time to admit some mistakes, point out some of the difficulties Microsoft faces with each product cycle, and review the reasons behind the decision to make the Surface.

About Microsoft's current greatest concern for hardware, Mundie explained why in the PC market they had let manufacturers (OEMs) ) will deal with the design of the devices and the consequences of such a decision:

Similarly happened with the first generation of Microsoft mobile phones. Even with some devices clearly superior in hardware, when people came across a bad one the Redmonds couldn't help but leave a poor impression. In the end Microsoft had to admit that they had a problem with such a different experience between devices From that recognition comes the company's ongoing concern with hardware and design.

Mundie acknowledges that now ">will miss out on some opportunities:

Mundie also highlighted some of the added difficulties faced by a giant like Microsoft The launches of some of its products, such as Windows and Office, are done on a scale that no other company can achieve. The trial periods of these are even longer than the full life-cycle distribution of some of its rivals' products.Added to this is the added difficulty of dealing with the reluctance to change from many users and companies that defer updates for as long as possible.

Asked about the investment in Surface and the potential risks in relationships with other hardware manufacturers, Mundie replied that the risk was absolutely worth it. In his own words, ">Surface is that deviceThey've shown it can be done and he thinks people have recognized it.

Via | The Verge