Microsoft raised the bar for Windows PCs with its Surface computers, despite low share after a decade
Panos Panay, chief product officer of Microsoft Corp., displays the new Surface Laptop 3 computer during a Microsoft product event in New York on Oct. 2, 2019. Microsoft unveiled a dual-screen, foldable phone that will run on Google’s Android operating system, jumping back into a market it exited years ago.
Mark Kauzlarich | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Microsoft made a splash in 2012 when it introduced the Surface, the first computer it had built in its 37 years of existence. The computers are still kicking 10 years later, with Microsoft issuing annual updates, but Surface’s mega-growth is long in the past.
Microsoft tried to reimagine tablets, which are made popular by the iPad, when it launched into the PC market. In 2012, the Surface with Windows RT, later named Surface RT, was more than just a touchscreen slab like Apple’s iPad. The Surface could act as a full PC with an optional cover featuring a keyboard and trackpad.
Apple in the ensuing years would make the iPad more like the Surface, adding similar accessories, while Microsoft would do what it usually does: Roll out a series of small updates. It later added new Surface computers to the family, including an all-in-one PC, a standard laptop and miniature versions of the Surface.
Those steps have brought about growth. In Microsoft’s most recent fiscal year, Surface kicked in $6.7 billion of the company’s $198 billion in total revenue. That’s more than the total revenue of over 100 companies in the S&P 500 index.
But the hyper-growth vanished after the first three years. In the 2022 fiscal year, Surface revenue increased by 3%, despite being smaller than PC initiatives at several other companies. Apple’s Mac business, at almost $38 billion, grew about 8% over the same period.
Surfaces just aren’t as popular as other computers. They have never managed to take more than 2.1% market share of PC shipments, according to an estimate from technology industry researcher Gartner. Lenovo has a 25% share of the market, while HP has 19% and Dell has 18%, respectively.
Microsoft declined to comment on whether it considers Surface successful.
“We design Surface to be the one place where the best of Microsoft comes together, delighting customers and inspiring the Windows ecosystem,” a spokesperson told CNBC in an email. “Surface began as a tablet to replace your laptop, showcasing Windows capabilities like touch, ink, Windows Hello, and more. Since then, the 2-in-1 category has taken off and Surface has grown into an innovative portfolio of products offering premium designs and capabilities that consistently earn high customer satisfaction.”
That Surface has not surpassed more experienced PC makers might not be such a bad thing anyway. PC builders are among Microsoft’s most prominent clients because they pay Microsoft a fee for the copy of Windows that goes on each computer. Upstaging them might not be wise.
Surface has held on to an important role — bringing to market Windows PCs with fresh designs, Gartner analyst Mikako Kitagawa told CNBC in an interview.
“I think those are the things they should really focus on, instead of looking for share gain and revenue growth,” she said.
If Microsoft were to charge forward in pursuit of dominant share, they could kill their customers, she said. Kitagawa recalled that Windows PC makers were not very happy with Microsoft when the first Surfaces arrived. “Taking 3% share was taking from somebody, right? That’s not incremental share,” she said.
Premium feel
Microsoft Corp.’s Surface tablet computers, aiming to compete with Apple’s iPad, are displayed at Hollywood’s Milk Studios in Los Angeles Monday, June 18, 2012. The 9.3-millimeter thick tablet comes with a kickstand to hold it upright and keyboard that is part of the device’s cover. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
Damian Dovarganes
The first line of the news release about the 2012 Surface showed Microsoft’s intent. These computers were meant to be “the ultimate stage for Windows.” A section near the bottom acknowledged the clients that were suddenly becoming the competition. “Microsoft is delivering a unique contribution to an already strong and growing ecosystem of functional and stylish devices delivered by original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to bring the experience of Windows to consumers and businesses around the globe,” the company said.
The inaugural Surface, the Surface RT running Windows RT, boasted clever physical attributes. A thin but sturdy kickstand could sweep out and prop up the display on a table or a desk. The case was made out of magnesium in a process called VaporMg, which lends it a premium feel akin to the aluminum wrapping up Apple’s MacBooks. An optional magnetic Touch Cover contained a narrow keyboard and a trackpad that doubled as a cover for the display. A power-sipping Arm chip gave it respectable battery life.
But the Surface RT blocked people from opening programs that weren’t listed in Microsoft’s app store, preventing them from using most existing Windows software. Basically, there wasn’t a lot you could do with it, and many third-party developers hadn’t done the work to adapt their software to it. The device garnered less than glowing reviews, with The Verge calling it “honestly perplexing.” “Little inconsistencies and bafflements are everywhere,” The New York Times’ David Pogue wrote.
Microsoft Surface with Windows 8 Pro
Source: Microsoft.com
In 2013 Microsoft brought out the Surface RT’s more expensive and more powerful sibling, the Surface Pro. It contained a stylus, along with an Intel chip that could run real Windows programs, with stronger performance than the Surface RT.
For Microsoft to put forth a more traditional Intel-based Windows PC would be bold. It would directly challenge some of the company’s top clients. “It did not seem prudent,” Steven Sinofsky, president of Microsoft’s Windows division who left the company in 2012, wrote in “Hardcore Software,” a detailed recollection of his experience that he’s been publishing in parts on Substack. Windows was Microsoft’s main source of profit. If even one of the major Windows device makers were to stop building Windows PCs, that would be, in Sinofsky’s words, “a massive problem.”
Microsoft pressed on anyway.
Like the Arm-based Surface RT, the Intel-powered Surface Pro wasn’t perfect. It could only run for a few hours on a single charge, and it was heavy and impractical to use as a tablet. And regular laptops offered better keyboards than those that Microsoft sold separately for the Surface Pro.
Cutting into profit
Microsoft’s Surface Laptop Go 2 starts at $599.
Microsoft
A few months later Microsoft revealed a black eye. It trimmed the price of the Surface RT by $150 to $349 and instituted inventory adjustments for related parts and accessories, which resulted in a $596 million reduction in its quarterly net income.
But Microsoft did what it usually does. It stuck with the Surface line instead of ditching a challenged brand. It rolled out refinements, such as making the hinge on the back of the tablet adjustable and changing the aspect ratio in such a way that work became more comfortable in landscape orientation.
- By 2015, Microsoft had walked away from Windows RT and was focused on building devices with Intel chips that could run standard Windows applications.
Meanwhile, copycats were coming out from top PC makers such as Dell, HP and Lenovo. And Apple was also responding, rolling out the laptop-like 12.9-inch iPad Pro and compatible Apple Pencil stylus and Smart Keyboard cover in 2015.
It was a strong dose of validation for Microsoft. In 2012, before the Surface came out, and there were only rumors of Microsoft’s plans for Windows, Apple CEO Tim Cook told analysts that “you can converge a toaster and a refrigerator, but those things are probably not going to be pleasing to the user.”
Yet in 2017, Apple, perhaps Microsoft’s toughest corporate critic, capitulated. It came out with a toaster-refrigerator combo of its own, said Michael Gartenberg, a technology industry strategist and former Gartner analyst. “It’s clearly become a mainstream design,” Gartenberg said.
Also that year Microsoft introduced the Surface Laptop. While it was as boring as any other laptop, it left out the software that sometimes could burden Windows PCs from other manufacturers, the sorts of things end users might want to spend time deleting, Gartenberg said.
Microsoft Corp. surface 5 laptop computers on display at the company’s Ignite Spotlight event in Seoul, South Korea, on Nov. 15, 2022. CEO Satya Nadella gave a keynote speech at an event hosted by the company’s Korean unit.
SeongJoon Cho | Bloomberg | Getty Images
In 2019, Microsoft took another shot at an Arm-based Surface, with the Surface Pro X. Reviewers gave it credit for long battery life but dinged it for performance and compatibility reasons, not unlike the original Surface RT.
This year, Microsoft made things more complex by introducing an Intel-based Surface Pro 9 along with an Arm-based version, which put an end to the distinct brand for Arm-flavored Surface. People have fretted that the Arm model of the Pro 9 is still unable to run some programs. The Intel version has received more praise. “The removal of the headphone jack is the only new thing that’s wrong with it,” Ars Technica said in its review.
Those who opt for the Surface Pro 9 with an Arm chip can at least access a broad swath of apps. The 2022 update to Windows 11 includes a way to run over 50,000 Android apps through the Amazon Appstore.
If you look at it for just a second, the Surface Pro 9 with Intel inside looks a bit like the 10-year-old Surface RT. Changes inside and out have made it tougher to dismiss as a novelty. There’s a button to enable the Function row on the keyboard, which boasts a more responsive trackpad. Enhancements to Windows make it easier to tap buttons on the screen when using the Surface as a tablet. You can open the programs you need.
Surface Pro 9, Surface Laptop 5 and Surface Studio 2+.
Microsoft
Gartenberg, who lives in New Jersey, doesn’t see many people using Surfaces in the real world, although he did recently witness a man working on a Surface while walking around outside. The man was wearing a harness that held the Surface just off his chest, so he could tap on the screen when necessary, Gartenberg said.
There’s one place you’ll certainly see them, though. During televised games, you can spot players, coaches and referees using branded Surface machines at National Football League games as a result of a partnership Microsoft struck with the NFL in 2013.
Buffalo Bills defensive line coach Eric Washington reviews plays on a Microsoft Surface tablet
Robin Alam | Icon Sportswire | Getty Images
In the course of a decade, Microsoft has managed to raise the bar for Windows PC makers, demonstrating that a top tier of Windows can exist, Gartenberg said.
“If someone said to me, ‘I need a Windows PC,’ what would I recommend? I would say, ‘Go see what Microsoft is offering. Go see if that meets your needs,'” he said. “‘It’s not going to come with any junk you’re going to call me about, and it will just work.'”
‘No compromise whatsoever’
Surface Pro 9.
Microsoft
Still, it’s not very easy to locate Surface diehards. A few can be found by surfing Craigslist.
There is, for example, Stephane Prunet, an investment advisor in Berkeley, California. For years the device’s unconventional design has appealed to him. He bought a Surface Pro 3 and then a Surface Pro 7. The latter, which came out in 2019, is his main computer, and he runs Microsoft Excel and other work-related programs on it.
“I almost never use it as a tablet. Maybe I should, but I don’t,” he said. Earlier this month he listed both on Craigslist. If someone buys the Surface Pro 7 for a good price, he’ll upgrade to the Surface Pro 9, which has a larger display.
If not, he said, he’ll hang on to the 3-year-old Surface. He won’t be giving it away to one of his children. His daughter uses a Mac, and his son is happy with his own Windows laptop. “He’s never shown interest in the Surface,” Prunet said.
Sure, some people might want a bigger screen, but beyond that, he doesn’t understand how people would be better off with a regular laptop than with a Surface.
“Except the fact that maybe some laptops are less expensive. That’s probably an explanation,” he said. “Because otherwise, I find there is no compromise whatsoever. In fact, there are only benefits. The keyboard is very comfy. It’s not as rigid as a laptop, but who cares?”
WATCH: The Microsoft Surface Go is a good computer, but a very bad tablet
Alex Karp, CEO of Palantir Technologies speaks during the Digital X event on September 07, 2021 in Cologne, Germany.
Andreas Rentz | Getty Images
Palantir shares continued their torrid run on Friday, soaring as much as 9% to a record, after the developer of software for the military announced plans to transfer its listing to the Nasdaq from the New York Stock Exchange.
The stock jumped past $64.50 in afternoon trading, lifting the company’s market cap to $147 billion. The shares are now up more than 50% since Palantir’s better-than-expected earnings report last week and have almost quadrupled in value this year.
Palantir said late Thursday that it expects to begin trading on the Nasdaq on Nov. 26, under its existing ticker symbol “PLTR.” While changing listing sites does nothing to alter a company’s fundamentals, board member Alexander Moore, a partner at venture firm 8VC, suggested in a post on X that the move could be a win for retail investors because “it will force” billions of dollars in purchases by exchange-traded funds.
“Everything we do is to reward and support our retail diamondhands following,” Moore wrote, referring to a term popularized in the crypto community for long-term believers.
Moore appears to have subsequently deleted his X account. His firm, 8VC, didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Last Monday after market close, Palantir reported third-quarter earnings and revenue that topped estimates and issued a fourth-quarter forecast that was also ahead of Wall Street’s expectations. CEO Alex Karp wrote in the earnings release that the company “absolutely eviscerated this quarter,” driven by demand for artificial intelligence technologies.
U.S. government revenue increased 40% from a year earlier to $320 million, while U.S. commercial revenue rose 54% to $179 million. On the earnings call, the company highlighted a five-year contract to expand its Maven technology across the U.S. military. Palantir established Maven in 2017 to provide AI tools to the Department of Defense.
The post-earnings rally coincides with the period following last week’s presidential election. Palantir is seen as a potential beneficiary given the company’s ties to the Trump camp. Co-founder and Chairman Peter Thiel was a major booster of Donald Trump’s first victorious campaign, though he had a public falling out with Trump in the ensuing years.
When asked in June about his position on the 2024 election, Thiel said, “If you hold a gun to my head I’ll vote for Trump.”
Thiel’s Palantir holdings have increased in value by about $3.2 billion since the earnings report and $2 billion since the election.
In September, S&P Global announced Palantir would join the S&P 500 stock index.
Analysts at Argus Research say the rally has pushed the stock too high given the current financials and growth projections. The analysts still have a long-term buy rating on the stock and said in a report last week that the company had a “stellar” quarter, but they downgraded their 12-month recommendation to a hold.
The stock “may be getting ahead of what the company fundamentals can support,” the analysts wrote.
Charles Liang, chief executive officer of Super Micro Computer Inc., during the Computex conference in Taipei, Taiwan, on Wednesday, June 5, 2024. The trade show runs through June 7.
Annabelle Chih | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Super Micro Computer could be headed down a path to getting kicked off the Nasdaq as soon as Monday.
That’s the potential fate for the server company if it fails to file a viable plan for becoming compliant with Nasdaq regulations. Super Micro is late in filing its 2024 year-end report with the SEC, and has yet to replace its accounting firm. Many investors were expecting clarity from Super Micro when the company reported preliminary quarterly results last week. But they didn’t get it.
The primary component of that plan is how and when Super Micro will file its 2024 year-end report with the Securities and Exchange Commission, and why it was late. That report is something many expected would be filed alongside the company’s June fourth-quarter earnings but was not.
The Nasdaq delisting process represents a crossroads for Super Micro, which has been one of the primary beneficiaries of the artificial intelligence boom due to its longstanding relationship with Nvidia and surging demand for the chipmaker’s graphics processing units.
The one-time AI darling is reeling after a stretch of bad news. After Super Micro failed to file its annual report over the summer, activist short seller Hindenburg Research targeted the company in August, alleging accounting fraud and export control issues. The company’s auditor, Ernst & Young, stepped down in October, and Super Micro said last week that it was still trying to find a new one.
The stock is getting hammered. After the shares soared more than 14-fold from the end of 2022 to their peak in March of this year, they’ve since plummeted by 85%. Super Micro’s stock is now equal to where it was trading in May 2022, after falling another 11% on Thursday.
Getting delisted from the Nasdaq could be next if Super Micro doesn’t file a compliance plan by the Monday deadline or if the exchange rejects the company’s submission. Super Micro could also get an extension from the Nasdaq, giving it months to come into compliance. The company said Thursday that it would provide a plan to the Nasdaq in time.
A spokesperson told CNBC the company “intends to take all necessary steps to achieve compliance with the Nasdaq continued listing requirements as soon as possible.”
While the delisting issue mainly affects the stock, it could also hurt Super Micro’s reputation and standing with its customers, who may prefer to simply avoid the drama and buy AI servers from rivals such as Dell or HPE.
“Given that Super Micro’s accounting concerns have become more acute since Super Micro’s quarter ended, its weakness could ultimately benefit Dell more in the coming quarter,” Bernstein analyst Toni Sacconaghi wrote in a note this week.
A representative for the Nasdaq said the exchange doesn’t comment on the delisting process for individual companies, but the rules suggest the process could take about a year before a final decision.
A plan of compliance
The Nasdaq warned Super Micro on Sept. 17 that it was at risk of being delisted. That gave the company 60 days to submit a plan of compliance to the exchange, and because the deadline falls on a Sunday, the effective date for the submission is Monday.
If Super Micro’s plan is acceptable to Nasdaq staff, the company is eligible for an extension of up to 180 days to file its year-end report. The Nasdaq wants to see if Super Micro’s board of directors has investigated the company’s accounting problem, what the exact reason for the late filing was and a timeline of actions taken by the board.
The Nasdaq says it looks at several factors when evaluating a plan of compliance, including the reasons for the late filing, upcoming corporate events, the overall financial status of the company and the likelihood of a company filing an audited report within 180 days. The review can also look at information provided by outside auditors, the SEC or other regulators.
Last week, Super Micro said it was doing everything it could to remain listed on the Nasdaq, and said a special committee of its board had investigated and found no wrongdoing. Super Micro CEO Charles Liang said the company would receive the board committee’s report as soon as last week. A company spokesperson didn’t respond when asked by CNBC if that report had been received.
If the Nasdaq rejects Super Micro’s compliance plan, the company can request a hearing from the exchange’s Hearings Panel to review the decision. Super Micro won’t be immediately kicked off the exchange – the hearing panel request starts a 15-day stay for delisting, and the panel can decide to extend the deadline for up to 180 days.
If the panel rejects that request or if Super Micro gets an extension and fails to file the updated financials, the company can still appeal the decision to another Nasdaq body called the Listing Council, which can grant an exception.
Ultimately, the Nasdaq says the extensions have a limit: 360 days from when the company’s first late filing was due.
A poor track record
There’s one factor at play that could hurt Super Micro’s chances of an extension. The exchange considers whether the company has any history of being out of compliance with SEC regulations.
Between 2015 and 2017, Super Micro misstated financials and published key filings late, according to the SEC. It was delisted from the Nasdaq in 2017 and was relisted two years later.
Super Micro “might have a more difficult time obtaining extensions as the Nasdaq’s literature indicates it will in part ‘consider the company’s specific circumstances, including the company’s past compliance history’ when determining whether an extension is warranted,” Wedbush analyst Matt Bryson wrote in a note earlier this month. He has a neutral rating on the stock.
History also reveals just how long the delisting process can take.
Charles Liang, chief executive officer of Super Micro Computer Inc., right, and Jensen Huang, co-founder and chief executive officer of Nvidia Corp., during the Computex conference in Taipei, Taiwan, on Wednesday, June 5, 2024.
Annabelle Chih | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Super Micro missed an annual report filing deadline in June 2017, got an extension to December and finally got a hearing in May 2018, which gave it another extension to August of that year. It was only when it missed that deadline that the stock was delisted.
In the short term, the bigger worry for Super Micro is whether customers and suppliers start to bail.
Aside from the compliance problems, Super Micro is a fast-growing company making one of the most in-demand products in the technology industry. Sales more than doubled last year to nearly $15 billion, according to unaudited financial reports, and the company has ample cash on its balance sheet, analysts say. Wall Street is expecting even more growth to about $25 billion in sales in its fiscal 2025, according to FactSet.
Super Micro said last week that the filing delay has “had a bit of an impact to orders.” In its unaudited September quarter results reported last week, the company showed growth that was slower than Wall Street expected. It also provided light guidance.
The company said one reason for its weak results was that it hadn’t yet obtained enough supply of Nvidia’s next-generation chip, called Blackwell, raising questions about Super Micro’s relationship with its most important supplier.
“We don’t believe that Super Micro’s issues are a big deal for Nvidia, although it could move some sales around in the near term from one quarter to the next as customers direct orders toward Dell and others,” wrote Melius Research analyst Ben Reitzes in a note this week.
Super Micro’s head of corporate development, Michael Staiger, told investors on a call last week that “we’ve spoken to Nvidia and they’ve confirmed they’ve made no changes to allocations. We maintain a strong relationship with them.”
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