Assignment Microsoft Tablet PC 1 
Innovation Management and Strategy
The Microsoft Tablet PC
And why it wasn’t successful
Prof. Dr. Bart Van Looy
Hanne Gielis, Femke Verbeek, Roel Jorissen Nicolas Vereecke & Pegah Khoshnevis
Group 18
Content Table
Introduction 3
A brief history of the Tablet computer 3
Background Microsoft 5
The Microsoft Tablet PC 5
Core failure reasons 7
Too short commercialization timeframe 7
Underperforming technology 7
Lack of concrete management vision 8
Wrong organizational structure 8
Bad marketing 9
External factors 9
Profitability problem 10
Conclusion 10
Comparison section 10
Micrososft Surface Pro 3 10 iPad 11
Conclusion 12
Appendix 13
References 14
Introduction
"Within five years I predict it will be the most popular form of PC sold in America."
-Bill Gates at the release of the Microsoft Tablet PC in 2002
As we know now, Bill Gates was not wrong, he was just 5 years off. Furthermore, he never imagined that it would be Steve Jobs, and not him, that would introduce the world to a new era, the era of the tablet. But why was Bill Gates wrong? Why wasn’t the Microsoft Tablet PC successful? Why didn’t we hear of it? What was the big difference with the successful iPad? We will try to answer these questions and more in this paper. We will start this paper with a brief history of the Tablet PC, where we will see that neither Bill Gates or Steve Jobs were close to being the first ones to come up or release an innovative product like this. After this, we will provide some information about Microsoft and the Microsoft Tablet PC. This will show us that, in theory, the Tablet PC was not destined to be a failure. On the contrary, it had some great specifications at the time and was backed up by one of the largest companies in the world. So after that, we will try to assess the most important reasons for its failure. Furthermore, we will compare the core failure reasons to products that are successful, the iPad and Microsoft’s new
The Microsoft Tablet PC
And why it wasn’t successful
Prof. Dr. Bart Van Looy
Hanne Gielis, Femke Verbeek, Roel Jorissen Nicolas Vereecke & Pegah Khoshnevis
Group 18
Content Table
Introduction 3
A brief history of the Tablet computer 3
Background Microsoft 5
The Microsoft Tablet PC 5
Core failure reasons 7
Too short commercialization timeframe 7
Underperforming technology 7
Lack of concrete management vision 8
Wrong organizational structure 8
Bad marketing 9
External factors 9
Profitability problem 10
Conclusion 10
Comparison section 10
Micrososft Surface Pro 3 10 iPad 11
Conclusion 12
Appendix 13
References 14
Introduction
"Within five years I predict it will be the most popular form of PC sold in America."
-Bill Gates at the release of the Microsoft Tablet PC in 2002
As we know now, Bill Gates was not wrong, he was just 5 years off. Furthermore, he never imagined that it would be Steve Jobs, and not him, that would introduce the world to a new era, the era of the tablet. But why was Bill Gates wrong? Why wasn’t the Microsoft Tablet PC successful? Why didn’t we hear of it? What was the big difference with the successful iPad? We will try to answer these questions and more in this paper. We will start this paper with a brief history of the Tablet PC, where we will see that neither Bill Gates or Steve Jobs were close to being the first ones to come up or release an innovative product like this. After this, we will provide some information about Microsoft and the Microsoft Tablet PC. This will show us that, in theory, the Tablet PC was not destined to be a failure. On the contrary, it had some great specifications at the time and was backed up by one of the largest companies in the world. So after that, we will try to assess the most important reasons for its failure. Furthermore, we will compare the core failure reasons to products that are successful, the iPad and Microsoft’s new
References: Faems, D & Janssens, M & Madhok, A & Van Looy, B 2008 ‘Toward an integrative perspective on alliance governance: Connecting contract design, trust dynamics, and contract application’. Academy of Management Journal,51(6), pp. 1053-1078.