Amazon Web Services not only achieved the clear and far dominant leader status in the Cloud Infrastructure as a Service (Cloud IaaS) market, but “the balance of new projects are going to AWS, not the other providers” – according to Gartner
According to the latest analysis by Gartner, Amazon Web Services (AWS) is:
- “overwhelmingly the dominant vendor” of the Cloud Infrastructure as a Service (Cloud IaaS) market
- a clear leader, with more than five times the compute capacity in use than the aggregate total of the other fourteen providers included in the so called Magic Quadrant (MQ)
- appreciated for “innovative, exceptionally agile and very responsive to the market and the richest IaaS product portfolio” which puts AWS into a quite far ahead position even against CSC, the only other in the Leaders quadrant currently
In addition Amazon Web Services has come up in July with a price cut that reaches 80% on its EC2 cloud computing platform.
Note that Gartner’s ranking is a complex evaluation, based on various point of views deemed to be most important from vendor-supplier point of view (see in the 3d party explanation of Gartner’s Magic Quadrant included in the Details part). It is not based on any kind of banchmarking, not even those run buy customers according to their specific application requirements. Therefore it is a well know fact that from pure cloud engineering point of view, especially in terms of focussed benchmarks Amazon EC2 is far from being a leader. The latest example of that:About the TestUnixBench runs a set of individual benchmark tests, aggregates the scores, and creates a final, indexed score to gauge the performance of UNIX-like systems,which include Linux and its distributions (Ubuntu, CentOS, and Red Hat). From the Unixbench homepage:
The UnixBench suite used for these tests ran tests that include: Dhrystone 2, Double-precision Whetstone, numerous File Copy tests, Pipe Throughput, ProcessCreation, Shell Scripts, System Call Overhead, and Pipe-based Context Switching.Price-Performance Value: The CloudSpecs ScoreThe CloudSpecs score calculates the relationship between the cost of a virtual server per hour and the performance average seen from each provider. The scores are relational to each other; e.g., if Provider A scores 50 and Provider B scores 100, then Provider B delivers 2x the performance value in terms of cost. The highest value provider will always receive a score of 100, and every additional provider is pegged in relation to that score. The calculation is:
Source: IaaS Price Performance Analysis: Top 14 Cloud Providers – A study of performance among the Top 14 public cloud infrastructure providers [Cloud Spectator and the Cloud Advisory Council, Oct 15, 2013] where—in addition of Unixbench—even more focussed benchmark results are reported as well from the Phoronix Test Suite (i.e. one of benchmark suites in PTS):
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THE DETAILS BEHIND
The 2013 Cloud IaaS Magic Quadrant [by Lydia Leong on Gartner blog, Aug 21, 2013]
Gartner’s Magic Quadrant for Cloud Infrastructure as a Service, 2013, has just been released (see the client-only interactive version, or the free reprint). Gartner clients can also consult the related charts, which summarize the offerings, features, and data center locations.
the best image obtained from the web: We’re now updating this Magic Quadrant on a nine-month basis, and quite a bit has changed since the 2012 update (see the client-only 2012, or the free 2012 reprint).
In particular, market momentum has strongly favored Amazon Web Services. Many organizations have now had projects on AWS for several years, even if they hadn’t considered themselves to have “done anything serious” on AWS. Thus, as those organizations get serious about cloud computing, AWS is their incumbent provider — there are relatively few truly greenfield opportunities in cloud IaaS now. Many Gartner clients now actually have multiple incumbent providers (the most common combination is AWS and Terremark), but nearly all such customers tell us that the balance of new projects are going to AWS, not the other providers.
Little by little, AWS has systematically addressed the barriers to “mainstream”, enterprise adoption. While it’s still far from everything that it could be, and it has some specific and significant weaknesses, that steady improvement over the last couple of years has brought it to the “good enough” point. While we saw much stronger momentum for AWS than other providers in 2012, 2013 has really been a tipping point. We still hear plenty of interest in competitors, but AWS is overwhelmingly the dominant vendor.
At the same time, many vendors have developed relatively solid core offerings. That means that the number of differentiators in the market has decreased, as many features become common “table stakes” features that everyone has. It means that most offerings from major vendors are now fairly decent, but only a few are really stand out for their capabilities.
That leads to an unusual Magic Quadrant, in which the relative strength of AWS in both Vision and Execution essentially forces the whole quadrant graphic to rescale. (To build an MQ, analysts score providers relative to each other, on all of the formal evaluation criteria, and the MQ tool automatically plots the graphic; there is no manual adjustment of placements.) That leaves you with centralized compression of all of the other vendors, with AWS hanging out in the upper right-hand corner.
Note that a Magic Quadrant is an evaluation of a vendor in the market; the actually offering itself is only a portion of the overall score. I’ll be publishing a Critical Capabilities research note in the near future that evaluates one specific public cloud IaaS offering from each of these vendors, against its suitability for a set of specific use cases. My colleagues Kyle Hilgendorf and Chris Gaun have also been publishing extremely detailed technical evaluations of individual offerings — AWS, Rackspace, and Azure, so far.
A Magic Quadrant is a tremendous amount of work — for the vendors as well as for the analyst team (and our extended community of peers within Gartner, who review and comment on our findings). Thanks to everyone involved. I know this year’s placements came as disappointments to many vendors, despite the tremendous hard work that they put into their offerings and business in this past year, but I think the new MQ iteration reflects the cold reality of a market that is highly competitive and is becoming even more so.
A 3d party explanation of the GARTNER IaaS MAGIC QUADRANT 2013 [cloud☁mania, Aug 29, 2013]
Gartner just released the 2013 update of his traditionally Magic Quadrant for Cloud Infrastructure-as-a-Service. Here are some consideration about the evaluation methodology and MQ players.
In the context of this Magic Quadrant, IaaS is defined by Gartner as “a standardized, highly automated offering, where compute resources, complemented by storage and networking capabilities, are owned by a service provider and offered to the customer on demand. The resources are scalable and elastic in near-real-time, and metered by use. Self-service interfaces are exposed directly to the customer, including a Web-based UI and API optionally. The resources may be single-tenant or multitenant, and hosted by the service provider or on-premises in the customer’s datacentre.”
To be included in Magic Quadrant IaaS providers should target enterprise and midmarket customers, offering high-quality services, with excellent availability, good performance, high security and good customer support. For each IaaS provider included in MQ Gartner is offering deep description related to services offer like: datacentre locations, computing issues, storage & network features, special notes, and recommended users. Also deep comments about Strengths & Caution in Cloud adoption are offered for each IaaS provider, despite the MQ positioning.
Gartner Magic Quadrant for IaaS is a more than eloquent picture of actual status of IaaS major players. IaaS market momentum is strongly dominated by Amazon Web Services both Vision and Execution essentially directions. According Garner analysts, AWS is a clear leader, with more than five times the compute capacity in use than the aggregate total of the other fourteen providers included in MQ. AWS is appreciated for “innovative, exceptionally agile and very responsive to the market and the richest IaaS product portfolio”.
The Leaders Quadrant is positioning CSC as second player, a traditional IT outsourcer with a broad range of datacentre outsourcing capabilities. CSC is appreciated for his commitment to embrace the highly standardized cloud model, and his solid platform attractive to traditional IT operations organizations that still want to retain control, but need to offer greater agility to the business
The Challengers Quadrant is including Verizon Terremark – the market share leader in VMware-virtualized public cloud IaaS, Dimension Data – a large SI and VAR entering in the cloud IaaS market through the 2011 acquisition of OpSource, and Savvis – a CenturyLink company with a long track record of leadership in the hosting market.
Big surprise for Visionaries Quadrant is the comfortable positioning of Microsoft with his Windows Azure platform. Previously strictly PaaS, Azure is becoming IaaS also in April 2013 when Microsoft launched Windows Azure Infrastructure Services which include Virtual Machines and Virtual Networks. Microsoft place in Visionary Quadrant is motivated by Gartner by the global vision of infrastructure and platform services “that are not only leading stand-alone offerings, but also seamlessly extend and interoperate with on-premises Microsoft infrastructure (rooted in Hyper-V, Windows Server, Active Directory and System Center) and applications, as well as Microsoft’s SaaS offerings.”
Between the IaaS providers from the Niche Players Quadrant, we have to note the presence of heawy playes triade:IBM, HP, and Fujitsu. Gartner appreciate IBM for his wide range of cloud-related products and services, IaaS MQ analyse including only cloud offering from SmartCloud Enterprise (SCE) and cloud-enabled infrastructure service IBM SmartCloud Enterprise+. In the same way, from HP’s range of cloud-related products and services Gartner is considered only HP Public Cloud and some cloud-enabled infrastructure services, such HP Enterprise Services Virtual Private Cloud. Fujitsu is one of the few non-American cloud providers, being appreciated by Gartner for the large cloud IaaS offerings, including the Fujitsu Cloud IaaS Trusted Public S5 (formerly the Fujitsu Global Cloud Platform), multiple regional offerings based on a global reference architecture (Fujitsu Cloud IaaS Private Hosted, formerly known as Fujitsu Local Cloud Platform), and multiple private cloud offerings, especially in Asia-Pacific area and Europe.
Speaking about non-America regions we should observe that significant European-based providers like CloudSigma, Colt, Gigas, Orange Business Services, OVH and Skyscape Cloud Services was not included in this Magic Quadrant. The same for Asia/Pacific region with major players like Datapipe, NTT and Tata Communications.
Gartner considered also two offerings that are currently in beta stage, and therefore could not be included in this evaluation, but could be considered as prospective players of next MQ edition: Google Compute Engine (GCE) – a model similar to Amazon EC2′s, and VMware vCloud Hybrid Service (vCHS) – a full-featured offering with more functionality than vCloud Datacenter Service.
Additional Gartner blog posts related to that:
Cloud IaaS market share and the developer-centric world [by Lydia Leong on Gartner blog, Sept 4, 2013]
Bernard Golden recently wrote a CIO.com blog post in response to my announcement of Gartner’s 2013 Magic Quadrant for Cloud IaaS. He raised a number of good questions that I thought it would be useful to address. This is part 1 of my response. (See part 2 for more.)
(Broadly, as a matter of Gartner policy, analysts do not debate Magic Quadrant results in public, and so I will note here that I’m talking about the market, and not the MQ itself.)
Bernard: “Why is there such a distance between AWS’s offering and everyone else’s?”
In the Magic Quadrant, we rate not only the offering itself in its current state, but also a whole host of other criteria — the roadmap, the vendor’s track record, marketing, sales, etc. (You can go check out the MQ document itself for those details.) You should read the AWS dot positioning as not just indicating a good offering, but also that AWS has generally built itself into a market juggernaut. (Of course, AWS is still far from perfect, and depending on your needs, other providers might be a better fit.)
But Bernard’s question can be rephrased as, “Why does AWS have so much greater market share than everyone else?”
Two years ago, I wrote two blog posts that are particularly relevant here:
- Common Service Provider Myths About Cloud Infrastructure
- In Cloud IaaS, Developers are the Face of Business Buyers
These posts were followed up wih two research notes (links are Gartner clients only):
- New Entrants to the Cloud IaaS Market Face Tough Competitive Challenges
- How Buyers Purchase Cloud IaaS
I have been beating the “please don’t have contempt for developers” drum for a while now. (I phrase it as “contempt” because it was often very clear that developers were seen as lesser, not real buyers doing real things — merely ignoring developers would have been one thing, but contempt is another.) But it’s taken until this past year before most of the “enterprise class” vendors acknowledged the legitimacy of the power that developers now hold.
Many service providers held tight to the view espoused by their traditional IT operations clientele: AWS was too dangerous, it didn’t have sufficient infrastructure availability, it didn’t perform sufficiently well or with sufficient consistency, it didn’t have enough security, it didn’t have enough manageability, it didn’t have enough governance, it wasn’t based on VMware — and it didn’t look very much like an enterprise’s data center architecture. The viewpoint was that IT operations would continue to control purchases, implementations would be relatively small-scale and would be built on traditional enterprise technologies, and that AWS would never get to the point that they’d satisfy traditional IT operations folks.
What they didn’t count on was the fact that developers, and the business management that they ultimately serve, were going to forge on ahead without them. Or that AWS would steadily improve its service and the way it did business, in order to meet the needs of the traditional enterprise. (My colleagues in GTP — the Gartner division that was Burton Group — do a yearly evaluation of AWS’s suitability for the enterprise, and each year, AWS gets steadily, materially better. Clients: see the latest.)
Today, AWS’s sheer market share speaks for itself. And it is definitely not just single developers with a VM or two, start-ups, or non-mission-critical stuff. Through the incredible amount of inquiry we take at Gartner, we know how cloud IaaS buyers think, source, succeed, and sometimes suffer. And every day at Gartner, we talk to multiple AWS customers (or prospects considering their options, though many have already bought something on the click-through agreement). Most are traditional enterprises of the G2000 variety (including some of the largest companies in the world), but over the last year, AWS has finally cracked the mid-market by working with systems integrator partners. The projected spend levels are clearly increasing dramatically, the use cases are extremely broad, the workloads increasingly have sensitive data and regulatory compliance concerns, and customers are increasingly thinking of AWS as a strategic vendor.
(Now, as my colleagues who cover the traditional data center like to point out, the spend levels are still trivial compared to what these customers are spending on the rest of their data center IT, but I think what’s critical here is the shift in thinking about where they’ll put their money in the future, and their desire to pick a strategic vendor despite how relatively early-stage the market is.)
But put another way — it is not just that AWS advanced its offering, but it convinced the market that this is what they wanted to buy (or at least that it was a better option than the other offerings), despite the sometimes strange offering constructs. They essentially created demand in a new type of buyer — and they effectively defined the category. And because they’re almost always first to market with a feature — or the first to make the market broadly aware of that capability — they force nearly all of their competitors into playing catch-up and me-too.
That doesn’t mean that the IT operations buyer isn’t important, or that there aren’t an array of needs that AWS does not address well. But the vast majority of the dollars spent on cloud IaaS are much more heavily influenced by developer desires than by IT operations concerns — and that means that market share currently favors the providers who appeal to development organizations. That’s an ongoing secular trend — business leaders are currently heavily growth-focused, and therefore demanding lots of applications delivered as quickly as possible, and are willing to spend money and take greater risks in order to obtain greater agility.
This also doesn’t mean that the non-developer-centric service providers aren’t important. Most of them have woken up to the new sourcing pattern, and are trying to respond. But many of them are also older, established organizations, and they can only move so quickly. They also have the comfort of their existing revenue streams, which allow them the luxury of not needing to move so quickly. Many have been able to treat cloud IaaS as an extension of their managed services business. But they’re now facing the threat of systems integrators like Cognizant and Capgemini entering this space, combining application development and application management with managed services on a strategic cloud IaaS provider’s platform — at the moment, normally AWS. Nothing is safe from the broader market shift towards cloud computing.
As always, every individual customer’s situation is different from another’s, and the right thing to do (or the safe, mainstream thing to do) evolves through the years. Gartner is appropriately cautionary when it discusses such things with clients. This is a good time to mention that Magic Quadrant placement is NEVER a good reason to include or exclude a vendor from a short list. You need to choose the vendor that’s right for your use case, and that might be a Niche Player, or even a vendor that’s not on the MQ at all — and even though AWS has the highest overallplacement, they might be completely unsuited to your use case.
Where are the challengers to AWS? [by Lydia Leong on Gartner blog, Sept 4, 2013]
This is part of 2 of my response to Bernard Golden’s recent CIO.com blog post in response to my announcement of Gartner’s 2013 Magic Quadrant for Cloud IaaS. (Part 1 was posted yesterday.)
Bernard: “What skill or insight has allowed AWS to create an offering so superior to others in the market?”
AWS takes a comprehensive view of “what does the customer need”, looks at what customers (whether current customers or future target customers) are struggling with, and tries to address those things. AWS not only takes customer feedback seriously, but it also iterates at shocking speed. And it has been willing to invest massively in engineering. AWS’s engineering organization and the structure of the services themselves allows multiple, parallel teams to work on different aspects of AWS with minimal dependencies on the other teams. AWS had a head start, and with every passing year their engineering lead has grown larger. (Even though they have a significant burden of technical debt from having been first, they’ve also solved problems that competitors haven’t had to yet, due to their sheer scale.)
Many competitors haven’t had the willingness to invest the resources to compete, especially if they think of this business as one that’s primarily about getting a VM fast and that’s all. They’ve failed to understand that this is a software business, where feature velocity matters. You can sometimes manage to put together brilliant, hyper-productive small teams, but this is usually going to get you something that’s wonderful in the scope of what they’ve been able to build, but simply missing the additional capabilities that better-resourced competitors can manage (especially if a competitor can muster both resources and hyper-productivity). There are some awesome smaller companies in this space, though.
Bernard: “Plainly stated, why hasn’t a credible competitor emerged to challenge AWS?”
I think there’s a critical shift happening in the market right now. Three very dangerous competitors are just now entering the market — Microsoft, Google, and VMware. I think the real war for market share is just beginning.
For instance, consider the following, off the cuff, thoughts on those vendors. These are by no means anything more than quick thoughts and not a complete or balanced analysis. I have a forthcoming research note called “Rise of the Cloud IaaS Mega-Vendors” that focuses on this shift in the competitive landscape, and which will profile these four vendors in particular, so stay tuned for more. So, that said:
Microsoft has brand, deep customer relationships, deep technology entrenchment, and a useful story about how all of those pieces are going to fit together, along with a huge army of engineers, and a ton of money and the willingness to spend wherever it gains them a competitive advantage; its weakness is Microsoft’s broader issues as well as the Microsoft-centricity of its story (which is also its strength, of course). Microsoft is likely to expand the market, attracting new customers and use cases to IaaS — including blended PaaS models.
Google has brand, an outstanding engineering team, and unrivaled expertise at operating at scale; its weakness is Google’s usual challenges with traditional businesses (whatever you can say about AWS’s historical struggle with the enterprise, you can say about Google many times over, and it will probably take them at least as long as AWS did to work through that). Google’s share gain will mostly come at the expense of AWS’s base of HPC customers and young start-ups, but it will worm its way into the enterprise via interactive agencies that use its cloud platform; it should have a strong blended PaaS model.
VMware has brand, a strong relationship with IT operations folks, technology it can build on, and a hybrid cloud story to tell; whether or not its enterprise-class technology can scale to global-class clouds remains to be seen, though, along with whether or not it can get its traditional customer base to drive sufficient volume of cloud IaaS. It might expand the market, but it’s likely that much of its share gain will come at the expense of VMware-based “enterprise-class” service providers.
Obviously, it will take these providers some time to build share, and there are other market players who will be involved, including the other providers that are in the market today (and for all of you wondering “what about OpenStack”, I would classify that under the fates of the individual providers who use it). However, if I were to place my bets, it would be on those four at the top of market share, five years from now. They know that this is a software business. They know that innovative capabilities are vitally necessary. And they know that this has turned into a market fixated on developer productivity and business benefits. At least for now, that view is dominating the actual spending in this market.
You can certainly argue that another market outcome should have happened, that users shouldhave chosen differently, or even that users are making poor decisions now that they’ll regret later. That’s an interesting intellectual debate, but at this point, Sisyphus’s rock is rolling rapidly downhill, so anyone who wants to push it back up is going to have an awfully difficult time not getting crushed.
Verizon Cloud is technically innovative, but is it enough? [by Lydia Leong on Gartner blog, Oct 4, 2013]
Verizon Terremark has announced the launch of its new Verizon Cloud service built using its own technology stack.
Verizon already owns a cloud IaaS offering — in fact, it owns several. Terremark was an early AWS competitor with the Terremark Enterprise Cloud, a VMware-based offering that got strong enterprise traction during the early years of this market (and remains the second-most-common cloud provider amongst Gartner’s clients, with many companies using both AWS and Terremark), as well as a vCloud Express offering. Verizon entered the game later with Verizon Compute as a Service (now called Enterprise Cloud Managed Edition), also VMware-based. Since Verizon’s acquisition of Terremark, the company has continued to operate all the existing platforms, and intends to continue to do so for some time to come.
However, Verizon has had the ambition to be a bigger player in cloud; like many other carriers, it believes that network services are a commodity and a carrier needs to have stickier, value-added, higher-up-the-stack services in order to succeed in the future. However, Verizon also understood that it would have to build technology, not depend on other people’s technology, if it wanted to be a truly competitive global-class cloud player versus Amazon (and Microsoft, Google, etc.).
With that in mind, in 2011, Verizon went and made a manquisition — acquiring CloudSwitch not so much for its product (essentially hypervisor-within-a-hypervisor that allows workloads to be ported across cloud infrastructures using different technologies), as for its team. It gave them a directive to go build a cloud infrastructure platform with a global-class architecture that could run enterprise-class workloads, at global-class scale and at fully competitive price points.
Back in 2011, I conceived what I called the on-demand infrastructure fabric (see my blog post No World of Two Clouds, or, for Gartner clients, the research note, Market Trends: Public and Private Cloud Infrastructure Converge into On-Demand Infrastructure Fabrics) — essentially, a global-class infrastructure fabric with self-service selectable levels of availability, performance, and isolation. Verizon is the first company to have really built what I envisioned (though their project predates my note, and my vision was developed independently of any knowledge of what they were doing).
The Verizon Cloud architecture is actually very interesting, and, as far as I know, unique amongst cloud IaaS providers. It is almost purely a software-defined data center. Components are designed at a very low level — a custom hypervisor, SDN augmented with the use of NPUs, virtualized distributed storage. Verizon has generally tried to avoid using components for which they do not have source code. There are very few hardware components — there’s x86 servers, Arista switches, and commodity Flash storage (the platform is all-SSD). The network is flat, and high bandwidth is an expectation (Verizon is a carrier, after all). Oh, and there’s object-based storage, too (which I won’t discuss here).
The Verizon Cloud has a geographically distributed control plane designed for continuous availability, and it, along with the components, are supposed to be updatable without downtime (i.e., maintenance should not impact anything). It’s intended to provide fine-grained performance controls for the compute, network, and storage resource elements. It is also built to allow the user to select fault domains, allowing strong control of resource placement (such as “these two VMs cannot sit on the same compute hardware”); within a fault domain, workloads can be rebalanced in case of hardware failure, thus offering the kind of high availability that’s often touted in VMware-based clouds (including Terremark’s previous offerings). It is also intended to allow dynamic isolation of compute, storage, and networking components, allowing the creation of private clouds within a shared pool of hardware capacity.
The Verizon Cloud is intended to be as neutral as possible — the theory is that all VM hypervisors can run natively on Verizon’s hypervisor, many APIs can be supported (including its own API, the existing Terremark API, and the AWS, CloudStack, and OpenStack APIs), and there’ll be support for the various VM image formats. Initially, the supported hypervisor is a modified Xen. In other words, Verizon wants to take your workloads, wherever you’re running them now, and in whatever form you can export them.
It’s an enormously ambitious undertaking. It is, assuming it all works as promised, a technical triumph — it’s the kind of engineering you expect out of an organization like AWS or Google, or a software company like Microsoft or VMware, not a staid, slow-moving carrier (the mere fact that Verizon managed to launch this is a minor miracle unto itself). It is actually, in a way, what OpenStack might have aspired to be; the delta between this and the OpenStack architecture is, to me, full of sad might-have-beens of what OpenStack had the potential to be, but is not and is unlikely to become. (Then again, service providers have the advantage of engineering to a precisely-controlled environment. OpenStack, and for that matter, VMware, need to run on whatever junk the customer decides to use, instantly making the problem more complex.)
Unfortunately, the question at this stage is: Will anybody care?
Yes, I think this is an important development in the market, and the fact that Verizon is already a credible cloud player in the enterprise, with an entrenched base in the Terremark Enterprise Cloud, will help it. But in a world where developers control most IaaS purchasing, the bare-bones nature of the new Verizon offering means that it falls short of fulfilling the developer desire for greater productivity. In order to find a broader audience, Verizon will need to commit to developing all the richness of value-added capabilities that the market leaders will need — which likely means going after the PaaS market with the same degree of ambition, innovation, and investment, but certainly means committing to rapidly introducing complementing capabilities and bringing a rich ecosystem in the form of a software marketplace and other partnerships. Verizon needs to take advantage of its shiny new IaaS building blocks to rapidly introduce additional capabilities — much like Microsoft is now rapidly introducing new capabilities into Azure.
With that, assuming that this platform performs as designed, and Verizon can continue to treat Terremark’s cloud folks like they belong to a fast-moving start-up and not an ossified pipe provider, Verizon may have a shot at being one of the leaders in this market. Without that, the Verizon Cloud is likely to be relegated to a niche, just like every other provider whose capabilities stop at the level of offering infrastructure resources.
From: Amazon.com Announces Third Quarter Sales up 24% to $17.09 Billion [press release, Oct 24, 2013]
- Amazon Web Services (AWS) introduced more than 15 new features and enhancements to its fully managed relational and NoSQL database services. Amazon Relational Database Service (RDS) now supports Oracle Statspack performance diagnostics and has expanded MySQL support, including capabilities for zero downtime data migration. Enhancements to Amazon DynamoDB include new cross-region support, a local test tool, and location-based query capabilities.
- AWS continued to bolster its management services, making it easier to provision and manage more AWS resources with AWS CloudFormation and AWS OpsWorks, which both added support for Amazon Virtual Private Cloud (VPC). AWS also enhanced the AWS Console mobile app and introduced a new Command Line Interface.
- AWS continued to gain momentum in the public sector and now has more than 2,400 education institutions and 600 government agencies as customers, including recent new projects with customers such as the U.S. Federal Drug Administration.
THE JULY PRICE CUT
From Amazon.com Announces Second Quarter Sales up 22% to $15.70 Billion [press release, July 25, 2013]
- AWS announced it had lowered prices by up to 80% on Amazon EC2 Dedicated Instances, instances that run on single-tenant hardware dedicated to a single customer account. In addition, AWS lowered prices on Amazon RDS instances with On-Demand price reductions of up to 28% and Reserved Instance (RI) price reductions of up to 27%.
- Amazon Web Services (AWS) became the first major cloud provider to achieve FedRAMP Compliance which recognizes the ability of AWS to meet extensive security requirements and compliance mandates for running sensitive US government applications and protecting data. FedRAMP certification simplifies and speeds the ability for government agencies to evaluate and adopt AWS for a wide range of applications and workloads.
- AWS announced the launch of the AWS Certification Program, which recognizes IT professionals that possess the skills and technical knowledge necessary for building and maintaining applications and services on the AWS Cloud. AWS Certifications help organizations identify candidates and consultants who are proficient at architecting and developing for the cloud.
- AWS further enhanced its security and identity management capabilities across several services – introducing resource-level permissions for Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) and Amazon Relational Database Service (RDS), adding identity federation to AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM), extending Amazon Simple Storage Service (S3) Server Side Encryption support to Amazon Elastic Map Reduce (EMR), and adding custom SSL certificate support for CloudFront. These enhancements give customers more granular security controls over their AWS deployments, applications and sensitive data.
- Et cetera (you can find the AWS highlights in every quarterly release about financials)
- All AWS related press releases
Some directly related and general/major previous press releases from that overall list:
- December, 2012: Amazon Web Services Introduces New Amazon EC2 High Storage Instance Family
- July, 2012: Amazon Web Services Introduces New Amazon EC2 High I/O Instance Type
- October, 2008: Amazon Web Services Launches Amazon EC2 for Windows
- August, 2008: Amazon Web Services Launches Amazon Elastic Block Store for Amazon EC2
Why Intel is pressed to go as far down as to $99 with its Android tablet prices (but not with Windows 8.1)?
There is a typical misunderstanding from reports like Intel says get ready for $99 tablets, $299 Haswell notebooks, $349 2-in-1 hybrids [ZDNet, Oct 16, 2013] that those rock bottom prices ($99+) will apply to Windows 8.1 tablets as well. This is very far from the truth both from possibilities and business rationale point of view for the company.
From: Intel’s CEO Discusses Q3 2013 Results – Earnings Call Transcript [Seeking Alpha, Oct 15, 2013]
During the holiday selling season, you will see Atom SoCs and tablets as low as $99, and in 2-in-1 systems as low as $349.
…
David Wong – Wells FargoThanks very much. Bay Trail. If I’m not mistaken there are Android tablets using Clover Trail+ the currently available, when might we expect Android tablets using Bay Trail in the market?
Brian Krzanich – Chief Executive Officer, Director
You are absolutely right there, several tablets out there currently today with Clover Trail+ using Android. What I told you was, there are about 50 designs on Bay Trail, about 20 of those are 2-in-1s, probably 25, 20 of them are Bay Trail tablets on Android, there is going to be about eight systems on shelf, eight to 10 systems on shelf, we believe, by the say Black Friday timeframe. Most of those will be Android tablets.
Intel plans cheap Bay Trail CPUs for 2Q14 [DIGITIMES, Oct 14, 2013]
Intel is planning to release entry-level Bay Trail-based processors for the Android platform in the second quarter of 2014, according to sources from tablet players.
The sources expect the CPUs to be priced between US$15-20, about US$12 lower than the current models.
Although Intel has already offered subsidies for its Bay Trail-T processors including Atom Z3740 and Z3770 at US$32 and US$37 and another 10% off for bulk purchase, they are still less competitive in pricing compared to ARM-based quad-core processors.
With the new entry-level processors, the sources expect Intel to gain an equal footing against players such as Mediatek, Qualcomm and Nvidia.
AND WHY “This [$99+ Windows 8.1 tablet] is very far from the truth both from possibilities and business rationale point of view for the company”?
Here are the clues from Intel’s CEO Discusses Q3 2013 Results – Earnings Call Transcript [Seeking Alpha, Oct 15, 2013]
During the third quarter, our revenue grew 5% sequentially and was flat versus the third quarter of 2012. Year-over-year PC CPU volumes declined slow and were offset by solid growth in the data center and enterprise. While consumer demand in emerging markets was sluggish, we started to see early signs of improvements in North America and Western Europe. I see our performance in this environment as evidence of an increasingly broad and diverse product portfolio. I would like to highlight a few of the most important results from the quarter.
Following the launch of Ivy Bridge EP and the Atom-based Avoton SoCs, the data center group, delivered all-time record revenue. DCG saw strength across its lines of business in geographies. Cloud revenue was up 40% year-over-year. Storage was up 20% and high performance computing was up 27%. Even traditional enterprise servers were up a bit over the last year on the strength of our MP product line.
While the data center group’s results demonstrate some of Intel’s core capabilities, we saw strong performance beyond DCG. Our embedded business grew 21% year-over-year, reaching an all-time record for revenue driven by communications infrastructure, transportation, the internet [of] and retail. Embedded revenue is well on its way to a double-digit growth year.
Just a few weeks ago, we announced our newest product family, Quark, an ultra low power and low cost architecture. And while any significant revenue impact is some time away, the architect and the speed with which we are bringing it to market are evidence of the changes we are making to ensure we are in a better position to lead and define technology trends moving forward.
Finally, our NAND business grew 20% over last year. As enterprise and data center customers increasing use of high-performance SoCs have put this segment on a path to double-digit growth for the year.
(See also The long awaited Windows 8.1 breakthrough opportunity with the new Intel “Bay Trail-T”, “Bay Trail-M” and “Bay Trail-D” SoCs? [‘Experiencing the Cloud’, Sept 14-26, 2013] for how much the current Bay Trail is priced for the overall Windows market (not only tablets) where prices are much higher than on the Android market).
The current Android tablet offers from Intel based on Clover Trail +:
You will see that with current Clover Trail + Android tablets there is a clear performance disadvantage against the ongoing quad-core ARM Cortex-A9 Android tablets which are also priced much lower than the upcoming $149.99 and $179.99 Android tablets from Dell. From pricing point of view compare that even with that of Amazon’s move into overall leadership: Kindle Fire HDX with Snapdragon 800, “revolutionary on-device tech support” (Mayday), enterprise and productivity capable Fire OS 3.0 forked from Android 4.2.2 etc. PLUS a significantly enhanced, new Kindle Fire HD for a much lower, $139 price [‘Experiencing the Cloud’, Sept 27, 2013], not to speak of the Chinese whitebox tablets costing even less than the new Kindle Fire HD at around $100.
Android tablet user experience [ARMflix YouTube channel, Oct 10, 2013]
ARM Quad core Cortex-A9 @1.4GHz vs. Intel Dual core Clovertrail+ @1.6GHz
So there are Dell Venue 7 and 8 Tablets [Dell YouTube channel, Oct 15, 2013] to capitalise on the well know and aceepted Dell brand name with higher prices:
for which Dell says on its Coming Soon: New Dell Venue Tablets [Oct 2, 2013] campaign page:
Dell Venue 7 & Venue 8: The tablets that draw a crowd.
Dell Android tablets combine the power of Intel® with compact connectivity, featuring a 7″ or 8″ HD screen with wide-angle viewing and both front and back cameras. Available in October.High-def details:
Enjoy every detail in high resolution on a 7″ or 8″ HD display screen for sharing your favorite photos, playing games and more.All-access apps:
Whether you’re looking to relax or be productive, the Android-based platform means you have access to thousands of Android apps.High-performance processor:
Expect speed with 4th Gen Intel® Atom™ processors for maximum performance.
From Dell Introduces New Line of Tablets and Updated XPS Laptops: Create, Share and Access Content from Virtually Anywhere [press release, Oct 2, 2013]
…
The Dell Venue 7 and Dell Venue 8 feature Intel AtomZ2760 (“Clover Trail”)[Z2560/Z2780 Clover Trail+ – see below] processors
…
Availability and Pricing
The Dell Venue 7, Venue 8, … will be available from October 18 on www.dell.com in the United States and select countries around the world.
…
- Venue 7: $149.99
- Venue 8: $179.99
…
Links to click: Venue™ 7 – Venue™ 8 – Z2560 – Z2580 – Clover Trail +
Obstacles for .NET on other platforms
Remove the platform restriction on Microsoft NuGet packages [Customer Feedback for Microsoft from Phil Haack , Sept 26, 2013]
In short, we’re customers of .NET, but we are building apps that also target multiple platforms. Likewise, we release a lot of open source libraries.
We cannot take a dependency on the recently released Immutable Collections for example.
For a more detailed description on why this is good for .NET and good for Microsoft, see: http://haacked.com/archive/2013/06/24/platform-limitations-harm-net.aspx
That is the reference to a very elaborative post Platform Limitations Harm .NET [haacked.com, June 24, 2013] by Phil Haack in resume of whom one can find:
Experience
Dec 11 – Present GitHub
Windows Badass
- Making GitHub and Git better for Windows and .NET developers.
Bellevue, WA Oct 07 – Dec 11 Microsoft
Senior Program Manager
- Program manager for the ASP.NET MVC framework and other features of ASP.NET.
Redmond, WA
So when he mentions in his elaborative post the following things one can really understand what kind of corporate complacency (stupidity in fact) really exist in big corporations like Microsoft:
Here’s an excerpt from section 2. c. in the released HttpClient license, emphasis mine:
a. Distribution Restrictions. You may not
- alter any copyright, trademark or patent notice in the Distributable Code;
- use Microsoft’s trademarks in your programs’ names or in a way that suggests your programs come from or are endorsed by Microsoft;
- distribute Distributable Code to run on a platform other than the Windows platform;
…
While developing Windows 8, Microsoft put a ton of energy and focus into a new HTML and JavaScript based development model for Windows 8 applications, at the cost of focus on .NET and C# in that time period.
The end result? From several sources I’ve heard that something like 85% of apps in the Windows app store are C# apps.
Now, I don’t think we’re going to see a bunch of iOS developers suddenly pick up C# in droves and start porting their apps to work on Windows. But there is the next generation to think of. If Windows 8 devices can get enough share to make it worthwhile, it may be easier to convince this next generation of developers to consider C# for their iOS development and port to Windows cheaply. Already, with Xamarin tools, using C# to target iOS is a worlds better environment than Objective-C. I believe iOS developers today tolerate Objective-C because it’s been so successful for them and it was the only game in town. As Xamarin tools get more notice, I don’t think the next generation will tolerate the clumsiness of the Objective-C tools.
…
Licenses for products are based on templates. Typically a product team’s lawyer will grab a template and then modify it. So with ASP.NET MVC 1 and 2, we removed the platform restriction in the EULA. But it looks like the legal team switched to a different license template in ASP.NET MVC 3 and we forgot to remove the restriction. That was never the intention. Shame on past Phil. Present Phil is disappointed.
Now came the news that Portable Class Library (PCL) now available on all platforms [.NET Framework Blog, Oct 14, 2013] in which Rich Lander, a Program Manager on the .NET Team essentially told the community that:
You can build .NET apps across a wide variety of platforms, and the Portable Class Library (PCL) helps you share your code and libraries across .NET platforms. Specifically, the PCL provides a set of common reference assemblies that enable .NET libraries and binaries to be used on any .NET based runtime – from phones, to clients, to servers and clouds.
Prior to today’s release, there was a license restriction with the PCL reference assemblies which meant they could only be used on Windows. With today’s release we are announcing a new standalone release of the PCL reference assemblies with a license that allows it to be used on any platform – including non-Microsoft ones. This enables developers even more flexibility and to do great things with .NET.
…
If you are using VS 2013 you can compile your apps using the portable reference assemblies that are automatically installed as part of it. Today’s standalone release of the PCL provides a ZIP file that includes the same portable reference assemblies that are available in the latest Visual Studio 2013 RC – and which you can use on other platforms (or within other tools). The ZIP file is installed to: %ProgramFiles(x86)%\Microsoft .NET Portable Library Reference Assemblies 4.6 RC.
after which there was the following discussion:
Erik Schierboom 14 Oct 2013 7:05 AM
Well this is great news! Delighted to see that we will now be able to run PCL libraries on all platforms.
Rich Lander [MSFT] 14 Oct 2013 7:11 AM
@Erik — This release is for the reference assemblies that we all build PCLs on top of. We are not announcing a change in licensing for our actual PCL NuGet libraries today.
Miguel de Icaza [from Xamarin] 14 Oct 2013 7:11 AM
Erik,
Mono has had PCL support for *consuming/running* the result starting with 3.2.2 I believe. This is about allowing developers to *build* the PCLs on non-Windows platforms.
Bart 14 Oct 2013 10:26 AM
Ok, so this is apparently not what I thought it was.
It cracks me up that you guys reference UserVoice at the end of this and as of yet have ignored the 4th most voted request on UserVoice (visualstudio.uservoice.com/…/4494577-remove-the-platform-restriction-on-microsoft-nuget).
@Rich, does “We are not announcing a change in licensing for our actual PCL NuGet libraries today.” imply that you will be announcing a change to the licensing of the NuGet libraries in the future?
So “the jury is still out” regarding the most important stuff originally meant. Here is a simplified list of the .NET NuGet Packages as of today:
Stable Packages (the NuGet equivalent of an RTM release)
AspNet.ScriptManager.jQuery assembly that will automatically register jQuery 2.0.3 with the ScriptManager as “jquery”. | AspNet.ScriptManager.jQuery.UI.Combined assembly that will automatically register jQuery.UI.Combined 1.10.3 with the ScriptManager as “jquery.ui.combined”. |
Entity Framework is Microsoft’s recommended data access technology for new applications. | Microsoft.AspNet.FriendlyUrls Adds a mobile master page and a view switcher user control to enable switching between mobile and desktop views using ASP.NET Friendly URLs. Note: This package contains content for C# Web Application Projects (WAPs) only. |
Microsoft.AspNet.FriendlyUrls.Core A library that enables automatic resolution of extensionless URLs to ASP.NET file-based handlers, e.g. ASPX pages. | Microsoft.AspNet.Membership.OpenAuth A series of helpers to enable using DotNetOpenAuth in an ASP.NET application that utilizes the Membership system for user management. |
Microsoft.AspNet.Mvc This package contains the runtime assemblies for ASP.NET MVC. ASP.NET MVC gives you a powerful, patterns-based way to build dynamic websites that enables a clean separation of concerns and that gives you full control over markup. | Microsoft.AspNet.Providers ASP.NET Universal Providers extend SQL support in ASP.NET 4 to all editions of SQL Server 2005 and later and to SQL Azure. |
Microsoft.AspNet.Providers.Core ASP.NET Universal Providers extend SQL support in ASP.NET 4 to all editions of SQL Server 2005 and later and to SQL Azure. | Microsoft.AspNet.Providers.LocalDb ASP.NET Universal Providers extend SQL support in ASP.NET 4 to all editions of SQL Server 2005 and later and to SQL Azure. |
Microsoft.AspNet.Providers.SqlCE ASP.NET Universal Providers extend SQL support in ASP.NET 4 to all editions of SQL Server 2005 and later and to SQL Azure. | Microsoft.AspNet.Razor This package contains the runtime assemblies for ASP.NET Web Pages. ASP.NET Web Pages and the new Razor syntax provide a fast, terse, clean and lightweight way to combine server code with HTML to create dynamic web content. |
Microsoft.AspNet.ScriptManager.MSAjax This package contains the Microsoft.ScriptManager.MSAjax assembly that will automatically register the Microsoft Ajax optimization bundle for Web Forms with ScriptManager. | Microsoft.AspNet.ScriptManager.WebForms This package contains the Microsoft.ScriptManager.WebForms assembly that will automatically register the Microsoft Ajax optimization bundle for Web Forms with ScriptManager. |
Microsoft.AspNet.SignalR Incredibly simple real-time web for .NET. | Microsoft.AspNet.SignalR.Client .NET client for ASP.NET SignalR. |
Microsoft.AspNet.SignalR.Core Core server components for ASP.NET SignalR. | Microsoft.AspNet.SignalR.JS JavaScript client for ASP.NET SignalR. |
Microsoft.AspNet.SignalR.ServiceBus Windows Azure Service Bus messaging backplane for scaling out of ASP.NET SignalR applications in a web-farm. | Microsoft.AspNet.SignalR.SqlServer SQL Server messaging backplane for scaling out of ASP.NET SignalR applications in a web-farm. |
Microsoft.AspNet.SignalR.Utils Command line utilities for ASP.NET SignalR. | Microsoft.AspNet.Web.Optimization ASP.NET Optimization introduces a way to bundle and optimize CSS and JavaScript files. |
Microsoft.AspNet.Web.Optimization.WebForms A Web Forms control for Microsoft.AspNet.Web.Optimization | Microsoft.AspNet.WebApi This package contains everything you need to host ASP.NET Web API on IIS. ASP.NET Web API is a framework that makes it easy to build HTTP services that reach a broad range of clients, including browsers and mobile devices. ASP.NET Web API is an ideal platform for building RESTful applications on the .NET Framework. |
Microsoft.AspNet.WebApi.Client This package adds support for formatting and content negotiation to System.Net.Http. It includes support for JSON, XML, and form URL encoded data. | Microsoft.AspNet.WebApi.Core This package contains the core runtime assemblies for ASP.NET Web API. This package is used by hosts of the ASP.NET Web API runtime. To host a Web API in IIS use the Microsoft.AspNet.WebApi.WebHost package. To host a Web API in your own process use the Microsoft.AspNet.WebApi.SelfHost package. |
Microsoft.AspNet.WebApi.HelpPage The ASP.NET Web API Help Page automatically generates help page content for the web APIs on your site. | Microsoft.AspNet.WebApi.HelpPage.VB The ASP.NET Web API Help Page automatically generates help page content for the web APIs on your site. |
Microsoft.AspNet.WebApi.OData This package contains everything you need to create OData endpoints using ASP.NET Web API and to support OData query syntax for your web APIs. | Microsoft.AspNet.WebApi.SelfHost This package contains everything you need to host ASP.NET Web API within your own process (outside of IIS). ASP.NET Web API is a framework that makes it easy to build HTTP services that reach a broad range of clients, including browsers and mobile devices. ASP.NET Web API is an ideal platform for building RESTful applications on the .NET Framework. |
Microsoft.AspNet.WebApi.Tracing Enables ASP.NET Web API tracing using System.Diagnostics. | Microsoft.AspNet.WebApi.WebHost This package contains everything you need to host ASP.NET Web API on IIS. ASP.NET Web API is a framework that makes it easy to build HTTP services that reach a broad range of clients, including browsers and mobile devices. ASP.NET Web API is an ideal platform for building RESTful applications on the .NET Framework. |
Microsoft.AspNet.WebPages This package contains core runtime assemblies shared between ASP.NET MVC and ASP.NET Web Pages. | Microsoft.AspNet.WebPages.Data This package contains the runtime assemblies for ASP.NET Web Pages. ASP.NET Web Pages and the new Razor syntax provide a fast, terse, clean and lightweight way to combine server code with HTML to create dynamic web content. |
Microsoft.AspNet.WebPages.WebData This package contains the runtime assemblies for ASP.NET Web Pages. ASP.NET Web Pages and the new Razor syntax provide a fast, terse, clean and lightweight way to combine server code with HTML to create dynamic web content. | |
Microsoft.Bcl Adds support for types added in later versions of .NET when targeting previous versions. | Microsoft.Bcl.Async Enables usage of the ‘async’ and ‘await’ keywords from projects targeting .NET Framework 4 (with KB2468871), Silverlight 4 and 5, and Windows Phone 7.5 and 8. |
Microsoft.Bcl.Build Provides build infrastructure components for Microsoft packages. | Microsoft.Bcl.Compression This package contains APIs for compressing and de-compressing streams using the ZIP and GZIP formats. |
Microsoft.Bcl.Immutable Provides immutable collections that allow CPU and memory efficient mutation via new references. | Microsoft.Composition Provides a lightweight and throughput-optimized composition container for MEF. |
Microsoft.Data.Edm Classes to represent, construct, parse, serialize and validate entity data models. Targets .NET 4.0, Silverlight 4.0, or .NET Portable Lib with support for .NET 4.0, SL 4.0, Win Phone 7, and Win 8. Localized for CHS, CHT, DEU, ESN, FRA, ITA, JPN, KOR and RUS. | Microsoft.Data.OData Classes to serialize, deserialize and validate OData payloads. Enables construction of OData producers and consumers. Targets .NET 4.0, Silverlight 4.0 or .NET Portable Lib with support for .NET 4.0, SL 4.0, Win Phone 7, and Win 8. Localized for CHS, CHT, DEU, ESN, FRA, ITA, JPN, KOR and RUS. |
Microsoft.jQuery.Unobtrusive.Ajax jQuery plugin that lets you unobtrusively set up jQuery Ajax. | Microsoft.jQuery.Unobtrusive.Validation jQuery plugin that unobtrusively sets up jQuery.Validation. |
Microsoft.Net.Http This package provides a programming interface for modern HTTP/REST based applications. | Microsoft.ScriptManager.jQuery This contents of this package has been moved to the AspNet.ScriptManager.jQuery package. |
Microsoft.ScriptManager.jQuery.UI.Combined This contents of this package has been moved to the AspNet.ScriptManager.jQuery.UI.Combined package. | Microsoft.ScriptManager.MSAjax This contents of this package has been moved to the Microsoft.AspNet.ScriptManager.MSAjax package. |
Microsoft.ScriptManager.WebForms This contents of this package has been moved to the Microsoft.AspNet.ScriptManager.WebForms package. | Microsoft.Tpl.Dataflow Task Parallel Library (TPL) Dataflow provides actor based building blocks for concurrent applications. |
Microsoft.Web.Infrastructure This package contains the Microsoft.Web.Infrastructure assembly that lets you dynamically register HTTP modules at run time. | microsoft-web-helpers This package contains web helpers to easily add functionality to your site such as Captcha validation, Twitter profile and search boxes, Gravatars, Video, Bing search, site analytics or themes. This package is not compatible with ASP.NET MVC. |
System.Spatial Contains classes and methods that facilitate geography and geometry spatial operations. Targets .NET 4.0, Silverlight 4.0 or .NET Portable Lib with support for .NET 4.0, SL 4.0, Win Phone 7, and Win 8. Localized for CHS, CHT, DEU, ESN, FRA, ITA, JPN, KOR and RUS. |
WebGrease Web Grease is a suite of tools for optimizing javascript, css files and images. |
WindowsAzure.MobileServices Windows Azure Mobile Services SDK. | WindowsAzure.MobileServices.WinJS Windows Azure Mobile Services SDK for WinJS. |
WindowsAzure.ServiceBus This package works with Windows Azure – Service Bus. It adds Microsoft.ServiceBus.dll along with related configuration files to your project. Please note that this package requires .Net Framework 4 Full Profile. |
Pre-release Packages
… <see in the original>
Microsoft Supported 3rd Party Libraries
… <see in the original>
Alibaba to secure “centuries” of the future of an already “US$150 billion ecosystem of consumers, merchants and business partners” via an internal partnership (rejuvenated each year) of top executive owners (with just 10% of shares) also controlling the board
With Michael Dell acquiring the rest 84% stake in Dell for $2.15B in cash, before becoming the next IBM, and even getting the cash back after the transaction [‘Experiencing the Cloud’, Feb 8, 2013] on Sept 12, 2013 approved by Dell stockholders (for $13.88 per share in cash against the originally proposed $13.65) we had a clear evidence that in these turbulent and extremely fast changing market and business conditions the traditional way of corporate governance is becoming a significant strategic obstacle. Here we have an even more glaring example. Especially because of The value of Taobao.com and TMall.com in China, as well as outside [‘Experiencing the Cloud’, Sept 2, 2013] and the role those key assets of the Alibaba Group are playing for The Upcoming Mobile Internet Superpower [‘Experiencing the Cloud’, Aug 13, 2013].
Alibaba slams HK exchange after IPO talks fail [South China Morning Post, Sept 30, 2013]
A senior Alibaba executive sharply criticized the Hong Kong stock exchange for not allowing the Chinese e-commerce giant to go public with its unique management structure, forcing it to shift efforts to the U.S for the potentially mammoth listing.
The company dropped plans this week to hold an IPO in the southern Chinese financial center because the stock market wasn’t willing to make an exception to its listing rules. Instead, it’s looking to New York for an initial public offering that analysts estimate could value the company at more than $100 billion.
That would dwarf the tech world’s other hotly anticipated share offering by Twitter, which is estimated to have a market value of $10 billion.
In a column posted late Thursday on Alibaba’s blog, Vice Chairman Joe Tsai said “Hong Kong must consider what is needed in order to adapt to future trends and changes.”
Tsai said the company had ended its discussions for a potential listing. It’s the first public acknowledgement that it has dropped its plans for an IPO in Hong Kong, which Tsai said was the company’s “first choice” because most of its business is in China.
Hangzhou, China-based Alibaba failed to persuade the Hong Kong stock exchange to grant it an exception from listing rules to allow it to maintain a “partnership” structure in which top executives, who own 10 percent of the company, retain control of the board.
Chairman Jack Ma has described the partnership system, which currently includes 28 people, as essential to preserving the company’s innovative culture.
Ma, a former English teacher, founded Alibaba in 1999 as a platform linking Chinese suppliers with retailers abroad. It has expanded in consumer e-commerce with its Taobao and Tmall platforms, which are among the world’s busiest online outlets.
China has the world’s biggest population of Internet users, and while it trails the U.S. and Japan in total e-commerce spending, the Boston Consulting Group forecasts it will rise to No. 1 by 2015.
Alibaba’s proposal failed because it was at odds with the Hong Kong exchange’s principle of treating all shareholders equally.
Tsai challenged the exchange over its rigidity.
“The question Hong Kong must address is whether it is ready to look forward as the rest of the world passes it by,” he said.
Alibaba’s two biggest shareholders, Yahoo and Japan’s Softbank, issued statements backing Alibaba.
“In a fast-moving technology market, it’s critical that a company’s leadership can continue to preserve its culture and set its strategic course for the future,” said Jacqueline Reses, chief development officer at Yahoo, which owns a 23 percent stake. She added that the U.S. Internet company believes Alibaba’s system reflects “the desire to govern the company for long-term success while also balancing the rights of shareholders.”
Masa Son, founder of Softbank Corp., which owns 35 percent, said he was “supportive” of the company’s structure.
Alibaba has not yet chosen an exchange or set a timetable for a U.S. listing. But it has hired U.S. law firm Simpson Thacher & Bartlett to help advise on the IPO and plans to hire underwriters soon, said a source familiar with the matter who was not allowed to speak publicly.
Goldman Sachs has estimated that a share sale could value Alibaba at as much as $105 billion.
Alibaba’s profit in the first three months of the year tripled to $669 million on revenue that rose 71 percent to $1.4 billion, according to Yahoo’s latest quarterly earnings.
Impact of Alibaba s IPO decision [CNN via VBG NewsTV YouTube channel, Oct 2, 2013]
Alibaba Offers an Alternative View of Good Corporate Governance [Joe Tsai on Alizila blog, Sept 26, 2013]
Until recently, Alibaba was in dialogue with Hong Kong capital markets regulators on how to translate our guiding philosophy into a form of corporate governance in connection with a potential listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. As a company with most of our business in China, it was natural for Hong Kong to be our first choice.
We proposed a governance structure that would enable Alibaba’s partners – key people who manage our businesses – to set the company’s strategic course without being influenced by the fluctuating attitudes of the capital markets so as to protect the long-term interests of our customers, company and all shareholders.
It has been said that Alibaba threatens the “one-share-one-vote” principle. Nothing is further from the truth. We never made any proposal that involved a dual-class shareholding structure. A typical dual-class structure allows those who hold high-vote shares to out-vote the rest of shareholders on all corporate matters. Our governance structure preserves significant rights of shareholders, including the unfettered rights to elect independent directors as well as rights to vote on substantial transactions and related party transactions.
Why do we insist on our governance structure? Our overarching objective is to maintain the Alibaba culture. For the past 14 years, Alibaba operated with the ethos of helping the “small guy” to succeed, as embodied in our mission: “to make it easy to do business anywhere”. This clear sense of mission, long-term focus and commitment to values defines the “Alibaba culture” and it is what makes us successful.
At the same time, we have also noticed that many great companies quickly deteriorate after their founders leave; in the same vein, a number of successful founders have also made fatal mistakes. The final governance structure we have selected is to replace founders with partners. The reason is simple – a group of partners who cherish the same culture and ideals is more likely to carry forward our principles and make good decisions for all stakeholders with a long-term view. And in the decade to come, those partners will be guided by these principles when grappling with inevitable disruption and competition.
We believe this partnership system is the right way to build a sustainable business: partners are peers and, without bureaucracy or rigid hierarchy, they solve problems through collaboration. Partners are not just managers but they are owners of the business with a keen sense of responsibility. The partnership is rejuvenated each year through admission of new partners and, as such, it provides both continuity and longevity because it is a living body. With this system, we believe we can sustain the flame of innovation and constantly improve the talent pool of people who run the Alibaba business.
Those who lack appreciation of our partnership philosophy may view our proposal merely as a founder wanting to preserve control. We could not have a more different objective. Over the past 14 years, we have never sought to control this company through the shareholding structure and we will not begin to do so now. What we want to establish is a mechanism to safeguard the Alibaba culture and we hope that the company’s future is sustainable beyond the life of any one founder. (In fact, Alibaba did not have one or two founders, but 18 founders. In a sense, we have operated as a partnership from Day One.) Our hope is to achieve a mechanism for safeguarding the development of the company “to last 102 years,” i.e. spanning at least three centuries starting from 1999, the year we were founded.
As the largest e-commerce marketplace operator in the world and a custodian of a US$150 billion ecosystem of consumers, merchants and business partners, our commitment to openness, transparency, sharing and responsibility is at the core of our value system.
We fervently believe maintaining an innovative culture and company mission are the essence of success in this disruptive world we operate in. Our governance structure is a creative way to address the core issues that matter to shareholders while staying true to who we are – which we cannot, and will not, change.
As an e-commerce company, we are deeply aware of the disruption that is brought about by the Internet across all industries, and the capital markets are not exempt from this disruption. As a social enterprise, we will strive to drive and promote this type of innovation. We welcome a debate about models of good governance for a business like ours in the 21st century.
We understand Hong Kong may not want to change its tradition for one company, but we firmly believe that Hong Kong must consider what is needed in order to adapt to future trends and changes. The question Hong Kong must address is whether it is ready to look forward as the rest of the world passes it by.
Joe Tsai is a co-founder and Executive Vice Chairman of Alibaba Group
Background from the point of view of philosophies behind stock exchange regulations:
Breakingviews: Hong Kong’s Alibaba loss is New York’s gain? [Reuters TV YouTube channel, Sept 26, 2013]
Background on the stakes in question:
– How e-commerce is changing China [CNN via TheBreakingNewss YouTube channel, Sept 30, 2013]
– How Alibaba unlocked the door to online shopping in China [Reuters TV YouTube channel, Oct 1, 2013]
Note that Alipay was “the largest online platform in the world in terms of registered users, transactions and total payment volume” back in 2011 according to Forbes. The above video shows that now it has a dominant position in China (which is also the largest e-commerce market in the world this year):
Background about the Alibaba Group and Alipay relationship (in order to see that the closing statement in the above video of not getting any benefit from Alipay is not true for the would be new shareholders of Alibaba):
- Alibaba Group, Yahoo!, and SoftBank Reach Agreement on Alipay [press release, July 29, 2011]
Alibaba Group, Yahoo! (NASDAQ:YHOO), and SoftBank (TYO:JP:9984) today announced they have reached an agreement in which Alibaba Group will continue to participate in Alipay’s future financial performance, including a future IPO or other liquidity event. The agreement is consistent with the two agreed-upon principles established at the outset of the negotiations: structure the inter-company relationship between Alipay and Taobao in order to preserve the value within Taobao and, by extension, within Alibaba Group; and provide that Alibaba Group is appropriately compensated for the value of Alipay.
Key Terms of the Agreement:
The agreement establishes the following:
- The agreement preserves the existing relationship between Taobao and Alipay. Alipay will continue to provide payment processing services to Alibaba Group and its subsidiaries (including Taobao) on preferential terms.
- Alibaba Group will license to Alipay certain intellectual property and technology and provide certain software technology services to Alipay and its subsidiaries. Alipay will pay to Alibaba Group, prior to a liquidity event, a royalty and software technology services fee, which consists of an expense reimbursement and a 49.9% share of the consolidated pre-tax income of Alipay and its subsidiaries.
- Alibaba Group will receive no less than $2 billion and no more than $6 billion in proceeds from an IPO of Alipay or other liquidity event. The exact proceeds to Alibaba Group will be determined by multiplying the total equity value of Alipay by 37.5%, subject to the foregoing floor and ceiling amounts.
“Over the last few months, we have worked cooperatively with our partners at Yahoo! and SoftBank to reach an agreement that serves the interests of all parties,” said Jack Ma, Alibaba Group Chairman and CEO. “This agreement is good for Alibaba Group and its stakeholders, including customers, employees and shareholders. Most importantly, Alipay was able to secure the license it needed to continue operating.”
“This is a good outcome for Yahoo! and for our shareholders, as well as all the parties to this agreement,” said Carol Bartz, Yahoo! CEO. “As a result of this constructive process, we have an agreement that preserves the value of Taobao, provides for profit sharing at Alipay, and creates a structure to allow Alibaba Group to participate if Alipay’s value is realized in an IPO or other liquidity event. Alibaba Group and its management team have an impressive track record of value creation and we look forward to participating in Alibaba Group’s—and Alipay’s—continued success.”
“This agreement was in part made possible by the strong long-term relationship and trust that exists between the principals at Alibaba Group, SoftBank and Yahoo!, and also lays the foundation for Alibaba Group to continue its impressive growth under the dynamic leadership of Jack Ma,” said Masayoshi Son, SoftBank CEO. “Alibaba Group is a clear leader in the China Internet business, the largest and fastest growing market in the world, and the close relationship with Alipay will allow Alibaba Group to strengthen that leadership position in the years to come.”
Alipay provides payment processing services to Alibaba Group and some affiliates, including Taobao, and to third parties. Taobao is China’s largest online retail website. Alibaba Group’s principal shareholders include Yahoo!, SoftBank, and Jack Ma and Joseph Tsai. In May 2011, Alipay obtained a license to operate in China from the People’s Bank of China following the restructuring of Alipay. The license will enable Alipay to continue serving Taobao and its other customers in China.
- Alibaba Group Clarification with Respect to Alipay Status and Related Statements by Yahoo! [press release, May 13, 2011]
Alibaba Group management has taken actions to comply with Chinese law governing payment companies in order to secure a license to continue operating Alipay. The Alibaba Group board discussed at numerous board meetings over the past three years the impending imposition of new regulatory requirements on the online payment industry, including ownership structures, as they were being developed in China, and was told in a July 2009 board meeting that majority shareholding in Alipay had been transferred into Chinese ownership. The actions taken by Alibaba Group management to comply with the licensing regulations and to ensure continuation of operations are in the best interests of the company and its shareholders. The continued operation of Alipay is essential to the preservation and enhancement of the value of Alibaba Group’s businesses such as Taobao, as Alipay is the payments platform for e-commerce in these businesses.
- Kendall Law Group Announces Class Action Lawsuit Against Yahoo! Inc. on Behalf of Shareholders [press release, June 7, 2011]
Kendall Law Group, a national securities firm led by a former federal judge with attorneys that include a former U.S. Attorney, announces a lawsuit filed on behalf of shareholders against Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ: YHOO) for alleged violations of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 concerning false and misleading statements regarding Yahoo’s business prospects.
A class action lawsuit was filed in the United States District Court, Northern District of California on June 6, 2011. Yahoo shareholders who purchased stock between April 19, 2011 and May 13, 2011 are urged to contact the Kendall Law Group for more information at 877-744-3728 or by email at skendall@kendalllawgroup.com. Any shareholder who purchased YHOO stock during this time period may move the Court to serve as a plaintiff in this class action. If you wish to serve as lead plaintiff, you must move the Court for appointment by August 5, 2011. A lead plaintiff is a class member who acts on behalf of other class members in directing the litigation. Your ability to share in any recovery is not affected by the decision to serve as a lead plaintiff.
From: Yahoo! Inc. Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q [May 10, 2011]
To expedite obtaining an essential regulatory license, the ownership of Alibaba Group’s online payment business, Alipay, was restructured so that 100 percent of its outstanding shares are held by a Chinese domestic company which is majority owned by Alibaba Group’s chief executive officer. Alibaba Group’s management and its principal shareholders, Yahoo! and Softbank Corporation, are engaged in ongoing discussions regarding the terms of the restructuring and the appropriate commercial arrangements related to the online payment business.
Regarding which in Yahoo Discloses Jack Ma Takes Control Of Alipay From Alibaba [Forbes, May 11, 2011]
Stifel Nicolaus analyst Jordan Rohan writes in a research note this morning that “there are concerns that the People’s Bank of China will prohibit foreign ownership of a payment solution and having Alipay owned 100% by a domestic entity will be required to obtain the appropriate licenses.”
Rohan points out that Alipay is the largest online platform in the world in terms of registered users, transactions and total payment volume; he’s been estimating the company’s value at $2 billion. The company has 550 million registered users, compared with 94.4 million for PayPal at the end of 2010.
On May 10, 2011, Yahoo disclosed that its $1 billion investment in a strategic partnership with Alibaba Group Holdings Limited, China’s largest e-commerce company, had likely been severely impaired by the misappropriation of Alipay, Alibaba’s most valuable asset, from Alibaba to another private company, controlled by Alibaba’s Chairman, Jack Ma. On May 15, 2011, Yahoo announced that Alibaba, Yahoo and Softbank Corporation were “engaged in and committed to productive negotiations to resolve the outstanding issues related to Alipay in a manner that serves the interests of all shareholders as soon as possible.” News reports indicate that Alibaba received $46 million for Alipay’s assets, which securities analysts valued at $5 billion.
The complaint alleges that Yahoo was informed no later than March 31, 2011 that Alipay’s structure had been shifted from Alibaba, therefore reducing the value of Yahoo’s investment in Alibaba by billions of dollars. The complaint also alleges that Yahoo failed to develop a strategy to recover the value it had in Alibaba, knowing that Chinese regulations regarding foreign ownership had been anticipated to change as far back as 2009, which would require Yahoo or Alibaba to divest themselves of Alipay. As a result of the alleged misstatements and omissions, Yahoo’s stock traded at artificially inflated prices during the class period.
Kendall Law Group was founded by a former federal judge, includes a former United States Attorney, prosecutors and securities lawyers who are experienced in complex securities litigation. The firm has been counsel in numerous merger and acquisition cases nationwide, including some of the largest transactions in the United States.
- Research and Markets: China Third-party Payment Industry Report, 2010-2013 [press release, July 7, 2011]
Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/24e22a/china_thirdparty) has announced the addition of the “China Third-party Payment Industry Report, 2010-2013” report to their offering.
Third-party payment refers to an Internet-based means of exchange that provides online (Internet) and offline (telephone & mobile phone) payment channels enabling user-to-merchant online payment, fund settlement, inquiries and statistics, etc.
In 2010, market transaction volume of third-party payment broke through RMB 1 trillion and registered RMB 1.1395 trillion [$176.2B] in China. However, third-party payment market is still in its infancy stage and is expected to develop rapidly in the next several years.
People’s Bank of China issued Regulation on Payment Service of Non-financial Organization on 14 Jun. 2010, with the aim to officially supervise the domestic third-party payment industry. On 26 May 2011, People’s Bank of China granted the first batch of Payment Transaction License to 27 third-party payment companies including Alipay, Tenpay, ChinaPay and 99Bill. In terms of market share, the top three third-party payment service providers in China are Alipay, Tenpay and ChinaPay.
My insert here from the How Alibaba unlocked the door to online shopping in China video above:
Alipay: Alipay is a third-party payment platform that belongs to Alibaba group. As of Dec. 2010, its number of registered users broke through 550 million, and daily transaction value reached RMB 2.6 billion [$402M] and daily number of transactions hit 11 million. It is expected that the annual transaction value of Alipay will achieve about RMB 1 trillion [$154.6B] in each of the next two years.
TenPay: As Tencent’s third-party payment platform, TenPay accumulated 150 million personal users and over 400 thousand cooperative merchants till Dec. 2010.
ChinaPay: ChinaPay is a third-party payment service provider with diversified business. Its business growth is mainly driven by those monopolistic fields including fund and insurance online payment. However, this monopolistic advantage is gradually diminished. In addition, with limited investment, online payment service is not the core business of ChinaPay, and its competitiveness is weak.
99Bill: As of 30 Apr. 2011, with transaction volume over RMB 100 billion, 99bill has 91 million registered users and over 980 thousand business partners. During 2008-2009, 99Bill shifted its major business to the segment markets, including insurance and fund industries, to get involved in the differential competition.
YeePay: YeePay is an integrated payment platform. Till 26 Nov. 2010, with over 10 thousand large and medium signed merchants, its daily transaction volume and number of transactions exceeded RMB200 million and 1 million respectively. Moreover, YeePay plays a leading role in the telephone payment market. During 2008-2010, it experienced rapid development in the fields of aviation, telecommunication and education.
Chinabank Payments: The lower online payment price is the key competitive advantage of Chinabank Payments. In addition, its offline credit card payment business has the early entry advantage.
Shengpay: With a registered capital of RMB250 million and about 250 employees, Shengpay is an independent third-party payment service provider belongs to Shanda Group. It provides payment solution for Shanda’s business including literature, music, film, recreation and tourism.
Key Topics Covered:
- Overview of Third-Party Payment
- Market Environment of Third-Party Payment Industry
- Market Analysis of Third-Party Payment Industry
- Competition
- Key Licensed Enterprises
- Other Key Enterprises
- Market Forecast of Third-Party Payment Industry
Companies Mentioned:
- Alipay
- TenPay
- 99Bill
- YeePay
- iPS
- Chinabank Payments
- ChinaPnR
- Shengpay
- All In Pay
- KuaiPay
- Beijing Digital Wangfujing Technology Ltd. Co.
- Property & Credit (Zihexin)
- Open Union
- Qiandai
- SmartPay
- Lakala
- Shanghai FFT Information Service Ltd.
- China UnionPay Merchant Services Co., Ltd.
- Beijing UnionPay
- ChinaPay
- PayEase
- Beijing Cloudnet Internet Co., Ltd.
- Union Mobile Pay (UMPay)
- BestPay
- 95epay
- Ecpss
For more information visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/24e22a/china_thirdparty
Dell’s all Intel tablets and laptops targeting the evolving mobile workforce even with their most consumer specific Android tablets
Dell is 100% committed to Intel (“for speed, responsiveness, and battery efficiency”) from now on which was, nevertheless, not discovered by the media. Otherwise the essence was well expressed by these Oct 2, 2013 media reports (being similar to others):
Read also: The long awaited Windows 8.1 breakthrough opportunity with the new Intel “Bay Trail-T”, “Bay Trail-M” and “Bay Trail-D” SoCs? [‘Experiencing the Cloud’, Sept 14-26, 2013]
- BBC News: Dell‘s latest Venue tablets shun Windows RT system
- PCWorld: With new Venue tablets, Dell signals its PC division is alive and kicking
- TechCrunch: Dell Tries To Crack The Android Tablet Code (Again) With The Venue 7 & 8
- GigaOM: New Dell Venue Pro tablets run Windows 8.1; no Windows RT in sight
- CNET: Dell gives up on Windows RT “Neil Hand [VP Consumer Marketing], head of tablets at the PC maker, says Dell won’t be releasing follow-up Windows RT products because they didn’t sell well.”
- VentureBeat: Dell gets serious about stealing market share with new consumer laptops and tablets “… ‘A year ago, Dell had two tablets,’ Hand said. ‘Now we have seven or eight, depending on how you count them. That shows our commitment.’ … Android is a force in tablets. With multiple Android tablets and even a modular, Windows 8-based convertible, Dell appears more like the Dell of yesterday, who was prepared to take share from its competitors.’ …”
- The Verge: Dell unveils first four Venue tablets, including a Microsoft Surface competitor
Conspicuously missing from Dell’s lineup is any trace of Windows RT, the stripped-down version of Windows designed for ARM processors. Dell was the last remaining Windows RT supporter outside of Microsoft, at least until the company discontinued its XPS 10 last month. When we asked Dell’s director of tablets, Bill Gorden, he said the company’s still considering its options. “We’re very happy with the direction of Windows 8.1, and we have multiple screen sizes and capabilities there,” he said. “We’re not sure what our plans are for Windows RT at the moment.”
However, Gorden suggests that we should take the Venue launch as a sign that Dell isn’t planning to abandon the consumer market after it goes private. “I think the introduction of all these devices is really a signal of how important end-user computing is to Dell,” he toldThe Verge. “I think you’re going to start seeing Dell start being prominent in the consumer space.”
What was announced (according to Dell’s press release, available here at the very end):
The Dell Venue 7, Venue 8, Venue 8 Pro, and new XPS 15 will be available from October 18 on www.dell.com in the United States and select countries around the world. The Venue 11 Pro, XPS 11 and the updated XPS 13 with touch will be available in November. Starting prices are as follows:
- Venue 7 [Android]: $149.99
- Venue 8 [Android]: $179.99
- Venue 8 Pro: $299.99
- Venue 11 Pro: $499.99
- New XPS 15: $1,499.99
- XPS 11: $999.99
- New XPS 13: $999.99
…
All Dell Venue tablets are based on Intel processing power for speed, responsiveness, and battery efficiency. The Dell Venue 7 and Dell Venue 8 [Android tablets] feature Intel Atom Z2760 (“Clover Trail”) processors, while the Dell Venue 8 Pro and Dell Venue 11 Pro [Windows 8.1 tablets] feature the new Intel Atom quad-core processors, code named “Bay Trail.” The Venue 11 Pro offers up to 4th Generation Intel Core [”Haswell”] i3 and i5 processor options and Intel vPro for manageability.
Dell messages:
From the press release:
- New Dell Venue tablets offer the ability to connect, share, and access content with ease
- XPS 11 is the world’s thinnest, lightest and most compact 2-in-1 in the world with the world’s first Quad HD display on an 11.6-inch 2-in-1
- XPS 15 powerhouse laptop offers the world’s first 15.6-inch Quad HD+ display for jaw-dropping visuals and the ultimate experience
…
Dell Venue tablets are designed to give people on-the-go a wide-selection of sizes and options to meet their varying needs. From 8 and 11-inch Windows-based tablets complete with keyboard and stylus options, to the 7 and 8-inch Android tablets, Dell has created a dedicated brand of tablets to meet the needs of customers who are the epitome of the evolving workforce.
For New Dell Venue 7 and 8 Tablets [DellVlog YouTube channel, Oct 2, 2013]
Stay connected with Venue 7 and 8 tablets featuring fast Intel processors and easy to use Android OS.
For New Dell Venue 8 Pro Tablet [DellVlog YouTube channel, Oct 2, 2013]
Connect to what you need easily, quickly and securely with the Dell Venue 8 Pro tablet [powered by Intel quad-core processor].
For New Dell Venue 11 Pro Tablet [DellVlog YouTube channel, Oct 2, 2013]
http://www.dell.com/tablets
The no compromise tablet for those that expect more and do more [featuring Intel Core processors].
For Enabling the mobile workforce with Dell [DellVlog YouTube channel, Oct 2, 2013]
Learn more about the evolving mobile workforce, bring your own device (BYOD) trends and the opportunity they present you as a Dell partner.
For Dell Venue 11 Pro Tablet for Work and Home [DellVlog YouTube channel, Oct 2, 2013]
See how the Venue 11 Pro goes from your home life to work life, with no compromises.
Only here, and only inside there is a Microsoft related message (while Intel is everywhere here and especially in the above videos):
- Stay connected with the Intel Core based Dell Venue 11 Pro tablet.
- Keep in touch with loved ones across the globe.
- Portability and performance in one device.
- Chair projects with the stunning Full HD wide angle screen.
- Run Windows 8.1 and Microsoft Office powered by Intel processors.
- Interact like never before with near-field communication.
- Present new ideas with Miracast technology.
- Designed for on the go or on the couch.
- Do more with the do it all Dell Venue 11 Pro tablet.
While at least one media source, CNET was much more Microsoft/Windows focussed:
The Dell Venue 8 Pro delivers full Windows 8.1 in a $299 package [CNETTV YouTube channel, Oct 2, 2013]
http://cnet.co/19ZguLY
Dell’s Venue 8 Pro is a full Windows 8.1 tablet with an 8-inch screen.
The Dell Venue 7 and 8 mark Dell’s return to Android tablets [CNETTV YouTube channel, Oct 2, 2013]
http://cnet.co/1bw0Mdk
Dell finally moves beyond the Streak with two new Android tablets.
Get accessorized with the Dell Venue 11 Pro [CNETTV YouTube channel, Oct 2, 2013]
http://cnet.co/173mhOm
The 11-inch Venue 11 Pro from Dell features a removable battery and plenty of accessory options.
The Dell XPS 11 and 12 feature unique hybrid designs [CNETTV YouTube channel, Oct 2, 2013]
http://cnet.co/1fJpImK
Both the Dell XPS 11 and 12 are take traditional hybrid design and throws it on its ear.
The Dell XPS 13 and 15 feature high-end specs and thin designs [CNETTV YouTube channel, Oct 2, 2013]
http://cnet.co/1brtC1U
Dell goes ultra high-end with its XPS 13 and 15 laptops.
Press release from the company:
Dell Introduces New Line of Tablets and Updated XPS Laptops: Create, Share and Access Content from Virtually Anywhere [Oct 2, 2013]
- New Dell Venue tablets offer the ability to connect, share, and access content with ease
- XPS 11 is the world’s thinnest, lightest and most compact 2-in-1 in the world with the world’s first Quad HD display on an 11.6-inch 2-in-1
- XPS 15 powerhouse laptop offers the world’s first 15.6-inch Quad HD+ display for jaw-dropping visuals and the ultimate experience
Dell today took a bold step in unveiling a new family of tablets and new laptops, including a 2-in-1 Ultrabook. The Dell Venue line of tablets is comprised of four new ultrathin models designed to address the changing way people live and work today. Dell’s “damned sexy” tablets, as described by leading Enderle Group analyst, Rob Enderle, deliver leading performance and quality, backed by Intel processing technology. With compact designs that make it easy to stay connected on the go, the Dell Venue tablets have an exquisite fit and finish.
In addition to the versatile new Dell Venue tablets, Dell is introducing new XPS laptops, each with breakthrough displays for a phenomenal viewing experience with vibrant, crisp images in any available screen size. The new XPS 11, the thinnest, most compact 2-in-1 in the world, also features the first Quad HD (2560 x 1440) display on an 11.6-inch 2-in-1. The XPS 15 multimedia powerhouse boasts a stunningly thin design, and offers as an option the first 15.6-inch Quad HD+ (3200 x 1800) display in the world, which is the highest resolution available on a laptop of that size. Dell is also refreshing its award-winning XPS 13 Ultrabook with faster processors, touch Full HD (1920 x 1080) display and improved battery life. With these three laptops, Dell is leading the industry with the highest resolution displays possible.
“People today expect the best experience possible from their technology – they are counting on it to keep them connected and move with them, wherever they are,” said Sam Burd, vice president Dell Personal Computing Group. “The new Dell Venue tablets and XPS laptops give customers the stellar experience they expect from us, with performance that allows them to work how they want, when they want, in a design they’ll be proud to show off and own.”
Dell Venue Tablets: Connect, Share and Access Content with Ease
Dell Venue tablets are designed to give people on-the-go a wide-selection of sizes and options to meet their varying needs. From 8 and 11-inch Windows-based tablets complete with keyboard and stylus options, to the 7 and 8-inch Android tablets, Dell has created a dedicated brand of tablets to meet the needs of customers who are the epitome of the evolving workforce.
- The Dell Venue 8 Pro and Dell Venue 11 Pro Windows 8.1-based tablets combine the level of performance, design and responsiveness end-users love while giving IT departments what they need – the ability to integrate into an existing corporate environment with full compatibility with current Windows applications and Microsoft Office integration. Both tablets feature optional advanced security features and services such as TPM and Dell Enterprise Services.
- The lightweight Dell Venue 8 Pro runs Windows 8.1, has a bright HD IPS display, advanced connectivity options and provides long battery life so range anxiety is no longer an issue. People can also stay productive with Office 2013 Home & Student, included with the device, and the optional Dell Active Stylus.
- The Dell Venue 11 Pro, also based on Windows 8.1, provides ultimate 2-in-1 flexibility with the power of an Ultrabook, convenience of a detachable keyboard and experience of a desktop. Unlike competitive tablets, it has a user removable/replaceable battery, and its large, Full HD display with wide viewing angles makes it easy to read and create content while staying mobile. It is also available with a variety of keyboard and stylus options:
- Dell Active Stylus makes it easy to annotate, draw or take notes.
- Dell Slim Keyboard, designed for travel, also serves as a cover for the screen when folded up.
- Dell Mobile Keyboard with integrated battery provides all day productivity with a full-sized keyboard while extending the battery life.
- Dell Tablet Desktop Dock delivers full productivity on a desk with USB 3.0 ports, and dual display out ports for display extension.
- The Dell Venue 7 and Dell Venue 8 Android-based tablets are affordable, feature-rich tablets for people who want to be constantly connected wherever they are. Both tablets have an upscale fit and finish, and are designed with longevity in mind with the right components so that customers will be just as delighted with their tablet one year from now, as they are on the day they take it out of the box.
All Dell Venue tablets are based on Intel processing power for speed, responsiveness, and battery efficiency. The Dell Venue 7 and Dell Venue 8 feature Intel Atom Z2760 (“Clover Trail”) processors, while the Dell Venue 8 Pro and Dell Venue 11 Pro feature the new Intel Atom quad-core processors, code named “Bay Trail.” The Venue 11 Pro offers up to 4th Generation Intel Core i3 and i5 processor options and Intel vPro for manageability.
Dell XPS Laptops and 2-in-1: The Ultimate Experience with Gorgeous Displays
Dell’s award-winning XPS laptop line just got even better with the new XPS 15 powerhouse laptop, the introduction of the XPS 11 2-in-1, and an update to the flagship XPS 13 Ultrabook. In keeping with the XPS tradition of offering the best computing experience in any product category, the XPS laptops and 2-in-1 feature machined aluminum, carbon fiber, vibrant displays, and Corning Gorilla Glass NBT for performance, durability and the ultimate experience.
- Starting at 2.5lbs[i] and just 11-15mm thin, the XPS 11 is the world’s thinnest, lightest and most compact 2-in-1 Ultrabook available today, offering a tablet-first design with laptop functionality. It easily transitions from tablet to laptop with a 360 degree rotating hinge design, and an innovative solid surface backlit touch keyboard that provides a superb experience from lap to bag. With a Quad HD (2560 x 1440) display, the highest resolution display in an 11.6-inch 2-in-1 today, the XPS 11 has a bright, crisp viewing experience. The display also features True Color viewing powered by eeColor, which enables customers to enjoy true, rich consistent color in nearly any lighting environment.
- The XPS 15 continues to be a multimedia powerhouse delivering the highest resolution in its class, and incredible power in an ultra-thin, light wedge design, starting at 4.44lbsi. The XPS 15 is the first 15.6-inch laptop in the world to feature a Quad HD+ display, and also available with a touch option, boasts over 5.7 million pixels – five times the amount of standard HD – for jaw-dropping resolution. Designed for creative enthusiasts, the XPS 15 packs 4th Generation Intel Core i5 and i7 quad core processor options and NVIDIA discrete graphics options. Every XPS 15 boots and resumes within seconds with hard drive configuration options from 500GB to 1TB[ii], both with a 32GB mSATA SSD, to a 512GB solid state drive, all including Intel Rapid Start Technology[iii].
- The award-winning XPS 13, with its 13.3-inch, edge-to-edge display that innovatively fits into a footprint similar to an 11-inch laptop, is razor thin and light, starting at under 3lbsi. It is now even faster with 4thgeneration Intel Core processors, Intel HD 4400 graphics, and has longer battery life for the mobile professional who values a sleek design, responsiveness and ultimate mobility. Its Full HD display provides a brilliant viewing experience and is now even more versatile with a touch option.
“Dell appears to have its innovative mojo back,” said Tim Bajarin, President of Creative Strategies. “These new products clearly emphasize Dell’s commitment to create innovative mobile solutions for businesses and consumers and I believe represent some of the best products they have made in many years.”
Personal and Professional Content Anytime, Anywhere
The Dell PocketCloud application is pre-installed on all XPS and Venue products, helping users build their own “personal cloud” and remotely manage personal and professional content. By combining PocketCloud with the portability of the new Venue tablets and XPS laptops, mobile workers will be able to enjoy an easy and connected experience with access to all of their apps and content from virtually anywhere.Get the Most Out of Your Technology with Dell Services
Dell customers can get the most out of their technology with Dell Services, dedicated to keeping them connected and productive, whether they’re using their Dell Venue tablet or XPS purchase for work or home. In addition to the Dell Limited Hardware Warranty, consumers can elect to include additional protection such as Accidental Damage Service[iv], Premium Phone Support and Rapid Return for Repair after Remote Diagnosis[v], which means that their system will be repaired and returned to them within 3-5 business days after remote diagnosis. Likewise, business customers can be rest assured that their devices will fit seamlessly and securely into their corporate IT environment with Dell Enterprise Services like ProSupport[vi] on the Dell Venue 8 Pro and Venue 11 Pro tablets.Availability and Pricing
The Dell Venue 7, Venue 8, Venue 8 Pro, and new XPS 15 will be available from October 18 on www.dell.com in the United States and select countries around the world. The Venue 11 Pro, XPS 11 and the updated XPS 13 with touch will be available in November. Starting prices are as follows:
- Venue 7: $149.99
- Venue 8: $179.99
- Venue 8 Pro: $299.99
- Venue 11 Pro: $499.99
- New XPS 15: $1,499.99
- XPS 11: $999.99
- New XPS 13: $999.99
About Dell
Dell Inc. (NASDAQ: DELL) listens to customers and delivers innovative technology and services that give them the power to do more. For more information, visit www.dell.com.Dell World
Join us at Dell World 2013, Dell’s premier customer event exploring how technology solutions and services are driving business innovation. Learn more at www.dellworld.com and follow #DellWorldon Twitter.Dell, Dell Venue and XPS are trademarks of Dell Inc. Dell disclaims any proprietary interest in the marks and names of others.
[i] Weights vary depending on configuration and manufacturing variability.
[ii] Hard drives: GB means 1 billion bytes and TB equals 1 trillion bytes; actual capacity varies with preloaded material and operating environment and will be less.
[iii] Intel Rapid Start Technology: Requires a Solid-State Drive (SSD) or properly configured HDD + SSD.
For copy of Limited Hardware Warranty, write Dell USA LP, Attn: Warranties, One Dell Way, Round Rock, TX 78682 or see http://www.dell.com/warranty
[iv] Accidental Damage Service excludes theft, loss and damage due to fire, flood or other acts of nature, or intentional damage. Customer may be required to return unit to Dell. For complete details, visitwww.dell.com/servicecontracts
[v] Remote Diagnosis is determination by online/phone technician of cause of issue, which may take multiple extended sessions. If issue is covered by Limited Hardware Warranty and not resolved remotely, shipping instructions will be provided. Next Business Day shipping not available in all areas, which may delay repair and return times. Other conditions apply. For complete details about Rapid Return for Repair after Remote Diagnosis Service, visit Dell.com/servicecontracts.
[vi] Availability and terms of Dell Services vary by region. For more information, visitwww.dell.com/servicedescriptions.