Microsoft Surface Pro has been quite a successful device and there are sales figures to prove it. The Surface Pro has been an example of a risk that Microsoft has taken according to Microsoft's CEO Satya Nadella and now Apple is following the lead with iPad Pro.
A few years ago, questions have been raised as to the usefulness of these so-called two-in-one devices. But the success of Microsoft's Surface Pro has proven that there is a demand in the market for such a device, a demand that Microsoft's fiercest competitor has begun to take notice of.
Apple has just recently launched its iPad Pro device, which they have marketed as a computer. A marketing strategy that has drawn some criticism since it basically contained a mobile OS. Microsoft's Surface Pro, on the other hand, boasts of a full-fledged Windows desktop OS.
There seems to be a trend nowadays for these two-in-one devices and Microsoft's Surface Pro seems to be leading the trend. Despite claims from Apple that their iPad Pro was a productivity device it seems to be lagging as some users perceive the tablet to be a glorified iPhone. The Surface Pro has set a standard for portable productivity, that the iPad Pro is struggling to match.
I recently purchased a Microsoft Surface 4 Pro. I have not been disappointed. Surface allows me to use Visual Studio easier than my MacBook https://t.co/KJ3wkbUQFZ
— Jake F Anderson (@AndersonInfoSys) November 17, 2016
Apple's CEO Tim Cook back in 2012 has mused about hybrid devices having too many trade-offs. In an interview with Australian Financial Review, Microsoft's CEO Satya Nadella seemed to throw the same words back at Apple's CEO, by showing how Microsoft's risk with these hybrid devices was a worthy endeavor.
The lead that Microsoft has taken with the Surface Pro has created the perception that Apple is ripping off Microsoft's device with their iPad or simply trying hard to take back the tablet market. Apple, however, can take comfort in the fact that their product name has more popularity than Microsoft, in that some customers would often mistakenly call the Surface Pro an iPad.
