Source: http://adage.com/article/digital/app-developers-shun-microsoft-s-surface/238602/
Microsoft has spent $1.5 billion marketing the Microsoft Surface, despite not being able to get any major app developers to create apps for the Surface. I'm sure we've all been constantly seeing those TV ads for the Surface, but why would anyone want to buy a Surface when there are no major apps available for the platform. The major app developers have signaled that they want to wait on investing resources to develop an app for the Surface until the Surface becomes more popular. However, will the Surface ever become more popular if no big names create apps for it?
Many companies (including the one I work for) are investing heavily in developing apps for various platforms. It is extremely time consuming and costly to create all of these versions, and the line has to be drawn somewhere, so it will be interesting to see if the Surface is where that line gets drawn. Currently Sports Illustrated is available on the iPad, iPhone, Kindle Fire, Nook Tablet, Android Tablets, Android Smartphones and we have a web based version of the magazine. Most of these platforms all have their own version of the magazine, which stretches edit, IT, marketing, etc. pretty thin.
Obviously any major app developer wants to be on iOS and on Android, which is where Amazon and Barnes and Noble got smart. They run on the Android operating system and are able to capitalize in some ways off the large scale of Android (granted, B&N and even Amazon aren't exactly equipped to develop their own operating systems). If they didn't run on Android, i think they would have had a very difficult time attracting app developers. Which brings us back to Microsoft, obviously Microsoft was never going to partner with Android or Apple, but they should have done a better job working with app developers. They reportedly did not even release an app development kit until shortly before the Surface was launched making it difficult for any developers to have apps in place for launch, which led to them waiting to see how the Surface does. Microsoft should have planned better and taken the approach Apple did when it launched the iPad, and reached out to key developers early on and tried to sell them as launch partners.
Microsoft has spent $1.5 billion marketing the Microsoft Surface, despite not being able to get any major app developers to create apps for the Surface. I'm sure we've all been constantly seeing those TV ads for the Surface, but why would anyone want to buy a Surface when there are no major apps available for the platform. The major app developers have signaled that they want to wait on investing resources to develop an app for the Surface until the Surface becomes more popular. However, will the Surface ever become more popular if no big names create apps for it?
Many companies (including the one I work for) are investing heavily in developing apps for various platforms. It is extremely time consuming and costly to create all of these versions, and the line has to be drawn somewhere, so it will be interesting to see if the Surface is where that line gets drawn. Currently Sports Illustrated is available on the iPad, iPhone, Kindle Fire, Nook Tablet, Android Tablets, Android Smartphones and we have a web based version of the magazine. Most of these platforms all have their own version of the magazine, which stretches edit, IT, marketing, etc. pretty thin.
Obviously any major app developer wants to be on iOS and on Android, which is where Amazon and Barnes and Noble got smart. They run on the Android operating system and are able to capitalize in some ways off the large scale of Android (granted, B&N and even Amazon aren't exactly equipped to develop their own operating systems). If they didn't run on Android, i think they would have had a very difficult time attracting app developers. Which brings us back to Microsoft, obviously Microsoft was never going to partner with Android or Apple, but they should have done a better job working with app developers. They reportedly did not even release an app development kit until shortly before the Surface was launched making it difficult for any developers to have apps in place for launch, which led to them waiting to see how the Surface does. Microsoft should have planned better and taken the approach Apple did when it launched the iPad, and reached out to key developers early on and tried to sell them as launch partners.
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