Microsoft Announces a Phone with Two Screens
The razzmatazz put on by other tech giants has made recent events tough acts to follow. However, “just take our money” was the cry from Microsoft fans as it took a risk on stage yesterday by announcing something very, very intriguing.
The Microsoft Surface Duo will have two screens, both capable of running a different app and folding 360 degrees. It will embrace Google’s Android software despite Microsoft’s long campaign to defeat that operating system with its own, Windows OS. Bill Gates predicted smartphones in 1998 but has himself admitted that Microsoft missed out. So, despite the Surface Duo being a full 14 months away, investors will be pleased to know their company is back in the game.
However, Apple investors also watched keenly as CEO Satya Nadella paced the stage, building up the holiday season hype with a series of “wow” moments. A new Surface Laptop 3 and Surface Pro 7 will go up against the Apple MacBook, so the pressure is on Tim Cook. The ball is in his court to replace a maturing iPhone with something that truly lives up to its “brave” and “innovative” claims. Otherwise, investors will assume Steve Jobs was the magic sauce.
In addition to its personal computers, the Apple Airpods are also under attack. The trillion-dollar company proudly unveiled a pair of minimalist, gesture-controlled Surface Earbuds yesterday that will retail for 249 dollars. Markets mainly traded news of the Surface Duo yesterday as well as macro worries, but these wireless earbuds are an investor-favorite.
The cyclical tech sector is doing what it does best; disrupt! Tech stocks could remain the growth engines of investors’ portfolios, but market players will be looking over their shoulders at each other as more products are thrown into the mix.