Windows 7 Tablet: Four Keys to Success Against the iPad

Initial reactions to the iPad earlier this year may have been mixed, but Apple's elegant tablet PC has since caught fire, racking up a devoted following and monster sales.

Between March and June, over 3 million iPads were sold worldwide, and new data from market research firm iSuppli shows that the iPad will dominate the tablet market by almost three to one until 2012.

Meanwhile, all the major computer vendors are working on a tablet. Some are running Google's Android mobile OS; some are running a proprietary OS such as RIM's rumored BlackPad and Hewlett-Packard's planned consumer tablet running WebOS.

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Microsoft should also take elements from the Surface product to bolster the language of touch screens, according to the Forrester report.

Get Ready to Spend a Lot on Marketing

Microsoft and its partners will need to invest big money in advertising to succeed in the tablet space, according to the Forrester report. Apple is hard to compete with in this category. It has a reputation for being innovative, has an extremely loyal fan base and an easy time getting rabid press coverage. Apple spent $501 million on advertising campaigns in 2009.

Microsoft will need to "pull out the wallet" for tablets, according to Forrester, using social media as a marketing tool as well as traditional advertising and branding campaigns.

Balance Price with Product Quality

The price of a Windows 7 tablet should be lower than the iPad, but if it doesn't meet or exceed iPad's range of features, then price won't matter.

"If a sub-$499 tablet offers a bad consumer experience, it will fail," writes Gownder and Epps. "Yet prices above $750 would almost certainly be too high for a complementary device that acts as a second, third, or fourth PC in the home."

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Making a Windows 7 tablet a "curated, elegant product" is the first order of business, according to Forrester. The pricing must balance the iPad's established stake in the ground with a satisfying Windows user experience.

Reach Consumers Directly

Apple Stores certainly give Apple an advantage to promote a new product and interact directly with customers. The stores are "effective educational channels as well as sales channels," writes Gownder and Epps. Microsoft doesn't have this and Best Buy is not always the easiest place to build a new product category.

Microsoft and its partners must look outside Best Buy here," writes Gownder and Epps. "Instead, promotion in the Microsoft Store pilots, creative new partnerships with retailers, and the use of mall kiosks will take the product to the people quickest."

Shane O'Neill covers Microsoft, Windows, Operating Systems, Productivity Apps and Online Services for CIO.com. Follow Shane on Twitter @smoneill. Follow everything from CIO.com on Twitter @CIOonline. Email Shane at soneill@cxo.com.