In the official transcript of Microsoft annual financial analysts meeting Thursday, the Microsoft CEO Steve Balmer said was one of the top issues on his mind: the competitive threat of Apple’s iPad.
He continues, that the Microsoft is hard at work preparing a Windows-based alternative to Apple’s already-popular iPad tablet. Hewlett-Packard, Dell, Asus, Lenovo, and Toshiba are cooperating with Microsoft on such a device, expected later this year, in a bid to catch up with Apple and Google Android.
“It is job-one urgency around here. Nobody’s sleeping at this point,” Ballmer told analysts. The Microsoft CEO was also surprised to hear Apple sold more than 3 million iPads, since launched in April: “They’ve sold more than I’d like them to sell. We think about that,” he said.
Ballmer’s idea of an iPad alternative will use Intel processors and Windows 7, instead of its mobile Windows Phone 7 platform. Besides that comment, he offered no details on the upcoming Windows-powered tablets.
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