Marketing Plan: Phase I
12/3/12

An Overview of the Organization
The Microsoft Corporation started on April 4, 1975, by Bill Gates and Paul Allen in Albuquerque, NM. Microsoft has been in business for more than twenty years. Its current best-selling products are the Microsoft Windows operating system and the Microsoft Office suite of productivity software. Microsoft has focused on making computers easier to use for individuals or families. Microsoft develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of software products for computing devices. Microsoft is the largest computer technology corporation. Microsoft has global annual revenue of 60.4 billion in US dollars and nearly 90,000 employees in more than 100 countries (Microsoft, 2012).
A Description of the New Product
Microsoft introduced a new product call Surface with Window RT tablet, release date is October 26, 2012. Window RT is a pre-installed with Office Home and Student 2013 preview. Window RT keeps individual productive with touch-enhanced versions of Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote (Microsoft, 2012). Surface also includes several product features. The features is Touch Cover; the Touch Cover click into Surface instant for typing on. Touch Cover automatically disables keystrokes for a full touch screen experience; when closed, it turns off your display (Microsoft, 2012). Surface have front and rear-facing 720p HD videos cameras with HD Video Out also requires VGA Adapter.
According to Microsoft (2012), “Surface had ports and connectivity brings your entire media collection with you. A microSDXC card slot lets you add up to 64 GB of extra storage. Show off everything on the big screen using the HD video out port. Full-size USB port and Bluetooth 4.0 provide clutter-free connections with wireless mice and headsets. Dual 2x2 MIMO antennas provide reliable internet connectivity” (Para. 3). The last two features is VaporMg Casing with Integrated Kickstand. Case is made with VaporMg to be tough, durable, yet smooth; case is less than 1.5 pounds.
Microsoft will release upgrade of Surface with Window 8 Pro in January 2013; will be priced from $899. The Surface Pro is more powerful version of the Surface RT, which was released at the end of October. The Surface Pro features an Intel Core i5 processor and 1080p HD display (Microsoft, 2012). The Pro will run the full version of Windows 8, instead of Windows RT, which was available on the Surface RT model. The Surface Pro model has an Intel processor and run like full desktop version.
Importance of Marketing Success
The Surface Pro tablet with the upgraded Windows 8 operating system is designed to provide greater functionality for the user. The Surface Pro is the latest product that may revolutionalize the concept of laptop computing. Although very similar, and based upon the Surface RT tablet, the Surface Pro is an upgrade in several key elements, such as am Intel i5 Core processor and of course the highly anticipated Windows 8 operating system. With each of these upgrades, the Surface Pro will have capabilities comparable to many desktop personal computers. In a an editor’s review on CNET.com, the Surface Pro was lauded “…because it can run full-blown Windows 8, the Surface Pro is as much a laptop, ready for serious productivity and entertainment duty, as it is a traditional tablet.”
Although marketing is vitally important to all products that Microsoft produces, when unveiling a something new, each step is extremely calculated. The releases of the Surface RT tablet three months prior to the unveiling of the Surface Pro gives Microsoft the prospect of considering consumer responses and fine-tune areas to maximize interest in the more capable Surface Pro. This includes providing previews of the product prior to the January 2013 release date.
Failure to leverage the opportunities of delaying a release of an upgraded product can be fatal to any company’s product line.