![]() For more information, contact more information, please see the SEC’s Web Site Privacy and Security Policy. You can also sign up for email updates on the SEC open data program, including best practices that make it more efficient to download data, and SEC.gov enhancements that may impact scripted downloading processes. Please declare your traffic by updating your user agent to include company specific information.įor best practices on efficiently downloading information from SEC.gov, including the latest EDGAR filings, visit sec.gov/developer. Your request has been identified as part of a network of automated tools outside of the acceptable policy and will be managed until action is taken to declare your traffic. To allow for equitable access to all users, SEC reserves the right to limit requests originating from undeclared automated tools. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.Your Request Originates from an Undeclared Automated Tool The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.Ĭopyright © 1995 - 2012 The Motley Fool, LLC. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. Motley Fool newsletter services recommend, Apple, and Google. The Motley Fool owns shares of Apple,, Google, and Microsoft. The article That's a Lot of Surface Tablets originally appeared on .Įvan Niu, CFA, owns shares of Apple. He's also providing regular updates as key events occur, so make sure to claim a copy of this report now by clicking here. In this brand-new premium report on Microsoft, our analyst explains that while the opportunity is huge, the challenges are many. However, with the release of its own tablet, along with the widely anticipated Windows 8 operating system, the company is looking to make a splash in this booming market. It's been a frustrating path for Microsoft investors, who've watched the company fail to capitalize on the incredible growth in mobile over the past decade. If it turns out that the company has ordered this many Surface units, mark my words: Microsoft will eat an inventory writedown in the not-too-distant future. No tablet that has tried to compete directly with the iPad on price has been able to move the needle in unit volumes. Surface launches next Friday, which will leave just over two full months in the fiscal quarter before the year closes. The last thing that Microsoft (or anyone) wants right now is to be like RIM. Remember last year when Research In Motion ( NAS: RIMM) ate a pre-tax noncash charge of $485 million because it had a "high level of BlackBerry PlayBook inventory" that needed "an increase in promotional activity" to clear out? That writedown required the BlackBerry maker to tone down its earnings guidance and triggered a mean sell-off. ![]() If it turns out that Microsoft is betting too big here and those Surface units sit on store shelves collecting dust, the company could face a big writedown further down the road. The company sold 13.7 million Xbox 360 units last fiscal year but the Surface tablets will retail for over twice as much and Microsoft certainly hopes it will quickly grow into more unit volumes. Microsoft doesn't have experience with massive physical product rollouts. That's less than 1% of total assets, unsurprising since its primary product is software. Right now it has $1.1 billion of inventory on its books, which likely includes a bunch of Xboxes and keyboards. With its jump into first-party hardware, Microsoft will have to cope with something it's not particularly used to: inventory management. The Wall Street Journalsays that Microsoft has ordered between 3 million and 5 million Surface units from its suppliers, which is approximately on par with how many Kindle Fires and Nexus 7s that Amazon and Google have ordered, respectively. While its entry-level price points have now been revealed to start at $499, the software giant is reportedly still betting it can move a fair amount of these devices. Microsoft ( NAS: MSFT) is set to launch its Surface table family next week. ![]() That same model has now gotten a spec bump and price reduction, while Google ( NAS: GOOG) has entered the 7-inch fray with the Nexus 7. That's especially true when you consider how much lower the price points for entry-level tablet are this year relative to last year.Ī's ( NAS: AMZN) first-generation Kindle Fire was the e-tailer's "#1 best-selling, most gifted, and most wished for product" in the fourth quarter, as the leading 7-inch tablet at the $199 price point. Spoiler alert: this holiday season's theme will be all about tablets.
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