From Steve Ballmer on down through the executive ranks, Microsoft brass has made it clear that tablet computers are going to be a big part of the company’s focus. But those new tablets, or slates, in Microsoft’s parlance, that will be powered by Windows 7 aren’t likely to make it to store shelves until the middle of next year, according to a prominent financial analyst.
So why the holdup? For one thing, Microsoft is planning its tablets to run on Intel’s Atom processors that aren’t due out until March. Microsoft counters that there is more nuance to its slate strategy, pointing out that one device is already on the U.S. market, with others to come before the deluge in mid-2011. Enterprise Mobile Today takes a look at Microsoft’s Windows 7 tablet scenarios.
A veteran financial analyst predicted Thursday that users will likely have to wait until the middle of next year before Microsoft and its hardware partners can field slate computers running Windows 7.
That’s not unexpected news.
At the end of July, CEO Steve Ballmer told a gathering of financial analysts at the company’s Redmond, Wash. headquarters that slates are “job 1” for Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT). At that time, he said there would be slate computers running Windows 7 in the marketplace within a year.