Will Microsoft launch a Windows 8 tablet with its one of its own brands by the end of 2012? The company is considering doing so, with cooperation from Texas Instruments and Taiwan-based OEMs/ODMs, according to sources from the upstream supply chain cited by DigiTimes.
The report suggests that Microsoft plans to copy its branding strategy from product lines such as the Xbox 360, Zune, and Kin to compete in the tablet PC segment with companies like Apple and Google. The only successful consumer brand for the software giant so far has been the Xbox 360.
Despite the plans to launch its own-brand tablet PC, Microsoft will continue to push its IDP plans for Windows 8. This means the company will still make sure its system clients, which will definitely be unhappy they have to compete with Microsoft, are properly taken care of.
Rumors about Redmond launching its own PCs, be that desktops, latptops, smartphones, or tablets, always tend to creep up every few months and the argument against them never changes. Microsoft makes money from licensing its software to its partners and it should not try to annoy them by going up against them from the hardware side of things.
In the case of the Xbox 360, Zune, and Kin, Microsoft does not license the software to partners and instead makes both the software and the hardware. For Windows, Windows Server, and Windows Phone, the company only takes care of the software. If Microsoft were to change this strategy, it would have to do it in a way that would only benefit its existing partners.
Microsoft announced earlier this year that Windows 8 will support Intel, AMD, and ARM architectures. The company gave its first preview of Windows 8 earlier this month.
Although a rumor suggests that Windows 8 will arrive on January 7, 2013, we expect that the operating system will ship in time for the 2012 holiday season. In fact, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has said Windows 8 is coming in 2012, although Microsoft quickly claimed this was a misstatement.