Recent statistics show that PC shipments in the last quarter of 2022 have experienced a cliff-like decline, down 28.1% year-on-year to 67.2 million units. With the exception of Apple, all manufacturers saw double-digit percentage declines. For many manufacturers, the current PC market is cold.
While content creation and artificial intelligence have both driven the market over the past few years, Microsoft’s Surface lineup has seen little change over the years. Microsoft set a new standard in the PC market with its first Surface product in 2012, blazing a new path for other laptop makers, but it’s now lagging behind, PC World said.
In the past quarter, the revenue of the Surface product line has also declined significantly, and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella also mentioned that “our hardware mix will change.” Simply put, the Surface line is outdated and in need of a reboot.
In fact, since 2017, Microsoft’s annual regular update of Surface products has changed very little and has become more conservative. If these devices are placed together, I believe it will be difficult for many users to distinguish them at a glance. Except for the port and thickness changes, the exterior has not changed much, and the interior is more of a regular upgrade. We must know that in 2012, Surface products led the PC industry in design and brought many new design ideas.
In contrast, other OEMs are still trying to experiment with various possibilities, full of “futuristic feeling”, such as Lenovo’s Yoga Book 9i, which is a dual screen laptop like a book, or ASUS ProArt StudioBook 16. Equipped with a naked-eye 3D OLED screen. With the downturn in the PC market, Microsoft’s hardware sales are struggling, which may be its perfect opportunity to reshape the Surface product line.
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