Forrester Says Windows 8 Tablets Are Dead-on-Arrival

While 46 percent of US consumers would have wanted to own a Windows 8 tablet in Q1 2011, the share has declined to just 25 percent in Q3. Forrester's JP Gownder says that Microsoft's marketing essentially failed to keep a momentum in the market and "amp up" expectations.

Forrester's take is that any late-comer to a market needs a compelling strategy, which is what Amazon and Barnes & Noble apparently created, to establish a necessary consumer desire that can sell products. As it stands now, Gownder indicates that Windows 8 tablets that are simply me-too devices are dead on arrival and require a fresh and convincing approach to stand a chance in a cut-throat market.

"Windows 8 tablets must provide consumers with a more differentiated product experience than it otherwise would have, had Microsoft entered the market sooner," the analyst wrote. "They’ll have to take a lesson from Amazon’s product strategists, who fundamentally changed the tablet product experience by leading with content and services rather than feeds and speeds, at a compelling price point."

Without having seen a Windows 8 tablet, it is, of course, difficult to predict the opportunity of the OS on tablets. We haven't seen a cross-device integration yet. We don't know how Windows 8 tablets can interact with Windows 8 PCs and we don't know how well Windows 8 devices as well as Windows Phones will be able to interact with Xbox Live, which remains a strangely underused asset in Microsoft's Windows and Windows Phone lineups. It is a bit early to discount the opportunity of Windows 8 as a platform spanning a variety of devices just yet, especially since the new touch interface will work much better on a tablet than it will on a vertical notebook or desktop screen.

If Microsoft gets the cross-device integration right, Windows 8 could easily turn into the successful catch-up player Forrester believes it can't be on tablets.

  • monkeysweat
    windows does have the most potential out there,, already have phones, consoles, Pcs,, not too difficult to make the tablet integrate with them and make it a 'home base' or controller... maybe even a second screen in some cases
    Reply
  • billybobser
    to be honest, the fad is dieing down, and hopefully in the future, they'll be better integrated and actually worth having.
    Reply
  • jerrspud
    I'm I the only one waiting to buy one that has a real OS?
    Reply
  • Could work if it ties in to Windows, like the Go to My PC software and you can use your desktop/laptop programs on it, add Media Center, XBL, they could have a compelling product!
    Reply
  • lancelot123
    I've been waiting for Microsoft to finally starting making some nice tablets. Screw Apple and Droid tablets. Give me one with a Windows OS so I can use any of my PC programs on it. Enjoy your Angry Birds while I play Starcraft.
    Reply
  • Northwestern
    It's all been a fad and it's now dying. Microsoft will have to have hype big enough to compete with the release of Windows 95 in order to re-energize the tablet market or at least make their tablet more successful.
    Reply
  • STravis
    SomeonewithnonameCould work if it ties in to Windows, like the Go to My PC software and you can use your desktop/laptop programs on it, add Media Center, XBL, they could have a compelling product!
    You can already do that with the current crop of stuff out there...
    Reply
  • STravis
    lancelot123I've been waiting for Microsoft to finally starting making some nice tablets. Screw Apple and Droid tablets. Give me one with a Windows OS so I can use any of my PC programs on it. Enjoy your Angry Birds while I play Starcraft.
    Can I file this under the "I don't know what a tablet is to be used for?" - Guy, MS tried that already (your suggestion) and failed miserably. Why the hell would they go down that road again?
    Reply
  • phate
    It'll be about as successful as WP7 phones. ... ...
    Reply
  • nbraybrook
    lancelot123I've been waiting for Microsoft to finally starting making some nice tablets. Screw Apple and Droid tablets. Give me one with a Windows OS so I can use any of my PC programs on it. Enjoy your Angry Birds while I play Starcraft.
    And how are you doing to play Starcraft on a tablet? Windows needs to stick to OS and PC / Laptop, tablets are a fad, they are good for some things but realistically nothing more than casual entertainment, light web browsing, maybe a movie. They lack to many features to be highly productive as a real comp or laptop.
    Reply