Surface tablet 'can only challenge iPad in the enterprise'

The Microsoft Surface tablet has no chance of challenging the Apple iPad, according to almost half of Computerworld UK readers, although nearly a third believe Microsoft’s new device can compete with Apple’s market leader in enterprise IT.

Computerworld UK ran the poll following the unveiling of the Windows 8 device at the start of the summer and with absolutely no details available of Microsoft Surface tablet pricing, asking whether it could mount a serious challenge to the iPad.

And while 13% believed that with its integrated keyboard cover and Metro-optimised Windows 8 OS the Surface could trump the Apple tablet, a resounding 47% said the Microsoft tablet would not mount a challenge; the offering was too little, too late from Steve Ballmer’s company.

However, when it came to enterprise IT, 31% of respondents believed the Surface tablet could become the device of choice among business users.

Obviously no poll results would be complete without some dubious mathematics and wild conjecture, and a brief glance at Computerworld UK readers for the month of August reveals that of visitors who accessed the website on a mobile device, 54% had used an iPad, with 66% accessing Computerworld UK on an Apple iOS device. Only 2% had visited the website through a Windows device. Apple users, ergo, are wary of the Surface.

These stats do not include visitors who accessed Computerworld UK using a PC, but it does hint that despite not knowing the Microsoft Surface tablet price less than a month until its release, Microsoft’s new device represents a serious threat to Apple in the realm of enterprise IT.