14 DAY TRIAL // A few months ago Microsoft announced its Windows 8.1 with Bing solution that is currently fueling some cheap notebooks selling for budget-friendly price-tags revolving around the $249 / €196 margin.
Fast forward towards the present and we learn that Microsoft is already prepping a follow-up solution set to be unveiled on February 2015.
Microsoft is looking out for the best interests of its partners, but...
According to a report coming from Digi Times, in an attempt to safeguard its partners’ profit, Microsoft will limit the solution only to 14-inch models that are to be launched in mature markets.
However, brand vendors will be given permission to roll out 15-inch models bundled with the solution in emerging markets.
But although Microsoft seems to be the thoughtful one here, its partners aren’t likely to appreciate the good will. As the Asian report claims, it is believed important players in the tech industry will be unlikely to follow Microsoft in its assault against the Chromebook “pest.”
To do a little historic tour, Microsoft started negotiating with possible notebook partners concerning products taking advantage of the Windows 8.1 with Bing solution since October 2013, which culminated with the Redmond giant rolling out the OS in June 2014.
However, even if a Bingbook avalanche was expected to happen, few brand vendors are currently actively pursuing this agenda.
For example, at IFA 2014, we saw ASUS unveil the EeeBook X205 while Toshiba launched the Satellite CL10-B.
Both of these products come with fairy identical specs, bringing forth an 11.6-inch panel with the standard 1366 x 768 pixels, Intel Bay Trail processor and 2GB of RAM.
As you can see, these laptops are basically Chromebooks, but instead of running Chrome OS on board, the manufacturer has added Microsoft’s low-cost solution.
Microsoft's Bingbooks aren't expected to make a big impact on Chromebooks in 2014
The Asian report goes on to mention that the top-5 vendors’ shipments targets related to this particular product line in 2014 range between 1-1.5 million maximum to 500,000 minimum. Taken as a conglomerate, total shipments are anticipated to hit the 4.5 million threshold in 2014.
Comparatively, Chromebooks are expected to achieve a 100% growth year-over-year in 2014, so Microsoft’s Bingbooks are unlikely to impact the market in a significant way.
Even if Bingbooks have a lot of potential to actually crush Chromebooks at some point, the lack of support from brand vendors might keep this from happening anytime soon. But maybe with the advent of Microsoft’s new budget solution, tech players might see their enthusiasm rekindled.