Future empowerment through Copilot+ PCs according to Microsoft, but current circumstances suggest a different narrative.
In the ever-evolving landscape of personal computing, Microsoft has made a bold move with its Copilot+ PCs. The tech giant has been promoting these devices, highlighting their breakthrough performance and the applications ported to the Windows on Arm architecture. However, sales figures have been tepid, with enterprise customers showing lacklustre interest in January and July.
Microsoft's post emphasises the enhancement of productivity and the unlocking of new experiences, but it seems that most of the listed apps are ports of existing tools and applications. This has led some, like The Reg, to question whether the big talk will match the sales volume when the figures are revisited.
The high price point, which is 57 percent higher on average compared to MacBooks, and the lack of killer apps have not appealed to many business users. In fact, sales of AI PCs are slower than expected, despite heavy promotion by Microsoft and hardware manufacturers like HP, Dell, and Intel. Consumers and developers may be excited by the possibilities offered by Copilot+ PCs, but their demand has not yet caught up with the aggressive marketing.
Microsoft claims that Arm-native versions of apps represent 90% of total user minutes on Copilot+ PCs. Yet, the Surface Laptop 7 with Arm and AI silicon has been met with criticism, particularly for occasional mystery slowdowns and forgetting where the cursor is.
The post also mentions the high price of Windows on Snapdragon devices in 2018, which did not have a native version of Office at the time. Microsoft's Satya Nadella states that AI has yet to find a killer app equivalent to the combined impact of email and Excel. This suggests a sense of unease about users considering Apple Macs as they replace their Windows 10 devices.
Interestingly, the post suggests that there is no essential need for "on-device AI capabilities" for most uses. This could potentially explain why many familiar apps run natively on hardware without on-device AI technology.
Meanwhile, Dell and Intel have also been pushing AI-ready technology on customers. Microsoft's streaming of just apps under Windows 365 suggests a view of cloud PCs as overkill, perhaps indicating a shift in strategy.
Despite the challenges, Microsoft maintains that the introduction of Copilot+ PCs marks a significant moment for the PC industry. As the technology continues to evolve, it will be interesting to see how consumers and businesses respond to these AI-powered devices in the future.
