Microsoft launches the "Surface" tablet

Do we even want to talk about the Microsoft Surface tablet? I guess we should and we must, the "Surface" was unveiled by CEO Steve Ballmer. The device weighs slightly more than the current iPad (the new iPad) but has a bigger screen, 10.6 inches compared to the iPad 9.7 inch screen. The pricing will be similar to that of other options out there, and by that I suspect that Ballmer means the Samsung Galaxy and the Apple iPad. What is quite cool is that there is a magnetic cover that doubles up as a fold down keyboard. And it can connect with printers, and it has a USB port. But, the expensive part will be that it runs a version of Microsoft 8 and office, so that licence part will have to be paid for by the user, which could mean that it might be more expensive that an iPad. As the WSJ points out though, if this is meant to replace the PC at home, then how do the manufacturers of PC's feel about this hardware muscling by Microsoft? Not too sure how they feel, but my thinking is that they do not feel altogether excited by this, HP, Dell and the like. I guess the good news for Intel is that their chips will be used in these products.


Microsoft is still a beast, with a market cap of 250 billion Dollars, over five years the stock is flat, but has paid a regular dividend, the current quarterly dividend is 20 cents per share, up from 10 cents five years ago. You would have got 182 cents if you had owned them over the same period. I swear to you that I ran a simple one year valuation model assuming that a growth rate of 8 percent was acceptable and got to about the current share price, in fact just below at 28.37 Dollars. The stock currently is at 30 Dollars in the pre market, indicating that whilst there might be haters for the device, Mr. Market thinks this is about neutral. Check out the presentation, which was live blogged by the fellows over at the Business Insider: Microsoft Announces Its Own Tablet, The Surface. Am I sold? No. But the stock still looks cheap man.