Microsoft and dealers secret talks

Computer store news: According to foreign media reports, The Channel broke the news that Microsoft and five B2B dealers are secretly talking for the sale of Surface Pro tablet to corporate users. To date, Microsoft has only sold Surface Pro tablets through online direct sales and a handful of UK retailers like PC World and John Lewis. The Surface Pro tablet was released in the US in February, but its sales are far from revolver. IDC expects sales of Surface RT and Pro equipment to reach 900,000 units worldwide in the first quarter, with a market share of 1.8%.

This move cannot be defined as a "U-shaped" turn because Microsoft's headquarters is still silent when it comes to the topic of Surface Pro tablet, which is only for business users, which also makes many partners A little disappointed.

People who have contact with the talks say Microsoft realizes that it needs to expand its sales, just as it did when selling Surface RT. At the same time, negotiators at Microsoft headquarters are negotiating with MISCO, Insight, Computacenter, SCC and Kelway.

Since Microsoft has not had time to recruit a Surface manager or team in the UK, the talks are led by US managers. An insider told the media that the top executives from Microsoft headquarters and five dealers in the UK will soon reach an agreement. At the same time, I also learned that Microsoft is seeking support from channel partners, especially to seek educational space.

According to people familiar with the situation, Microsoft’s negotiation start date has not been confirmed, but the end time is likely to be in the summer, because Microsoft will be welcoming Surface 2.

In the industry, Pro is considered a replacement for PCs in terms of price and specifications. Its target market is small, medium and large business buyers from the channel said that Pro is equally likely or not selling well: "Surface still lacks some applications in the Apple Store. As far as the current market is concerned, its price is relatively high. “

NCI Technologies founder Andy Trish (who holds OEM certification for Microsoft Gold, with Microsoft licensing and mid-market business) said that if Microsoft maintains Pro's sales restrictions in the UK, This will annoy suppliers other than the five dealers.

He said: "The way they do this will make these partners feel isolated than the previous behavior." & rdquo; Microsoft dealers have not been told whether they will participate in Pro's supply chain, but there is no doubt that the five dealers will purchase Pro directly from Microsoft. One of them said: "I am a Microsoft distributor. One, of course I want to sell as much as possible in my portfolio. ”

It is reported that dealers are not sure whether Microsoft will sell Pro through its UK online store.

The source wanted to know how Microsoft got the support of its partners through the channel because it had neither a network engineer in the UK nor an accessory business.

According to reports, the Pro tablet was first released in the UK at the end of May. The 64GB is priced at 719 euros and the 128GB model is priced at 799 euros. But there are rumors that Pro 2 will soon replace Pro.

This device has been handed over to Build 2013 developers. At the same time, the price of Surface RT will continue to fall at the end of August. There is also news that there may be a Surface RT sale at that time.

Canal Co., senior analyst at Timys, said that Microsoft is doing the right thing to embrace the channel. This is a great opportunity for Pro's success.