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Comment by hi-v-rocknroll | Hacker News Reader

Bigger picture: I don't understand why MSFT would want to compete in what's ultimate a low-margin, commodity business that many others have exited. Are these loss-leaders not of sufficient quality, availability, or to their liking and so they need to have a choice available to push the software stack?

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They need (or are desperate depending on your milage) to find a way to get AI onto Windows 11 to justify their huge investment in AI. A PC with a dedicated "AI-chip" is one of these ways. It is also a requirement if they want to compete against Apple when it comes to running local on-device models and workloads.

Presumably the goal is to entire what is a low margin market today and convert it into a high margin market. Microsoft has the option of simply limiting the number of Microsoft Windows licenses sold to prevent their competitors from selling more units.

I hope they do. I'm tired of seeing that windows malware preloaded onto all the non-apple laptops.

In other words, i dont think deliberately induced scarcity in windows would increase demand for windows, if anything we will breathe a collective sigh of relief and move on.

> I don't understand why MSFT would want to compete in what's ultimate a low-margin, commodity business

I was in a Walmart today, for the first time in years since I don’t live near one… Based on shelf space taken up, I’d estimate that 1/3 or more of the computers that Walmart sells are Chromebooks.

So yeah, this is probably trying to find some differentiation that stops the entire low-end market from being taken away from them. Because if that happens then things get really hard for them.

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