Microsoft Surface Book Will Be Available Through Distributors

Microsoft's new Surface Book appears to be heading to distribution and indirect channel partners.

Tech Data and Ingram Micro both confirmed that they are offering the Surface Book to their solution provider communities, and will provide support programs for the mobile devices.

Microsoft on Tuesday unveiled the Surface Book, the company's first foray into the notebook PC market. Pricing for the 13.5-inch Surface Book, which features a detachable keyboard, starts at $1,499. The device can be preordered starting Wednesday, with the official public launch scheduled for Oct. 26.

[Related: Partners: New Microsoft Surface Laptop Accelerates Channel Competition]

The company also unveiled the new Surface Pro 4, a couple of Lumia mobile phones, and other consumer-focused hardware.

Microsoft's hardware business, particularly around its Surface Pro tablet PC devices, has not found fans among mobile device solution providers, given that the vendor has typically taken a direct-only approach.

Even so, the Surface Pro has been available for a year or two via distributors, and Microsoft early this year started selling its Surface Pro via such OEMs as Dell and Hewlett-Packard, although those vendors are taking a direct approach with their customers.

However, Microsoft on Tuesday opened up the possibility of working with indirect channels in a statement: "In the United States, Surface Book, Surface Pro 4, Lumia 950, Lumia 950 XL, Microsoft Band 2 and Xbox One will be available through microsoftstore.com, more than 110 Microsoft stores, authorized resellers and select partner retailers."

Microsoft had not made an executive available by publication time to provide details about its indirect channel strategy.

However, a spokesperson for Tech Data e-mailed a statement from a news release, planned to be released Wednesday, referring to the Clearwater, Fla.-based distributor's plans for making the Surface Book and the Surface Pro 4 tablet available to its partners.

"The newly announced Microsoft Surface Pro 4 and Surface Book are now available for order through Tech Data," Tech Data said in the statement. "The Microsoft Surface Pro 4 delivers the power and versatility of a complete, cloud-connected Windows 10 device that is both powerful and portable. The new Microsoft Surface Book includes a 13.5-inch display, a backlit keyboard and the screen is fully removable so that it can be used as a tablet. The dedicated Microsoft Surface team at Tech Data provides customized marketing programs and integrated A/V solutions for authorized Surface resellers."

As of publication time, Tech Data executives were not available to provide further details.

An Ingram Micro spokesperson said the distributor has SKU’d up the Surface Book to sell to its solution providers.

One executive of a North America-based distributor told CRN under condition of anonymity that the company is already selling the Surface Pro, and will be making the Surface Book available through its channel partners.

"The Surface Pro is gaining some popularity in the enterprise," the executive said. "But like any manufacturer with a new revision in its products, there's no big game changers in today's news. It's more evolution than revolution."

Even so, Microsoft continues to gain share in the market with what the distribution executive called an "exceptional" product. "People thought it would be a short-term play for Microsoft, but that has not been the case," the executive said.

The executive said the Microsoft Surface Book will not likely cannibalize sales of mobile PCs by HP or Dell, because the vendors all offer different products. "But with any new vendor, that is a concern," the executive said. "Microsoft is bringing new people into the mobile universe. But it could cannibalize sales of its partners' devices over time."

Microsoft needs to find a channel-friendly approach to its Surface Pro and Surface Book devices, said Brian Lisse, owner of Madison Computer Works, a Madison, Wis.-based small business solution provider that sells mobile PCs from vendors such as Acer and Lenovo.

"I'm not impressed with any vendor who says it won't support dealers," Lisse told CRN. "I don't know anything about the Surface Book. And until a customer comes in looking for help integrating it, I don't want to know about it."

Microsoft needs to make sure it supports partners like any other vendor does in order to succeed in the channel, Lisse said.

"When Microsoft sells through the channel, ... usually it will sell to the public at the same price it sells to channel partners," he said. "If there's a differential in the price, where I can make something on it, I'm willing to put it on our floor. We get hundreds of residential and small business customers coming in and looking at such devices."

PUBLISHED OCT. 6, 2015