Apple Intercepts Microsoft's NFL Play

Apple Intercepts Microsoft's NFL Play

By Andrea Chang and Tony Perry

Microsoft Corp. thought it had scored a touchdown when it struck a multiyear deal with the NFL that would allow teams to use the company's Surface tablets during games.

Too bad television announcers keep referring to the devices as iPads.

The tablet computers, covered in bright blue protective cases, have become a familiar sight on the sidelines this season as coaches and players turn to them to study opponents' moves, review previous possessions and strategize. They're replacing the pages of black-and-white photographs that had long been printed out using fax machines and printers and delivered in binders to teams dozens of times during a game.

The confusion over the Surface tablets began during Week One of the season, when Fox commentator John Lynch told viewers that New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees was 'not watching movies on his iPad' during a game. Lynch made things more awkward when he then said players had 'iPad-like tools.'

A similar slip-up occurred on 'Monday Night Football' last week when ESPN's Trent Dilfer wondered how long it took Cardinals assistant head coach Tom Moore 'to learn how to use the iPad.'

And at Sunday's game between the San Diego Chargers and the Seattle Seahawks, a local television announcer balked when told the teams were using Surface devices.

'What? I thought it was an iPad,' he said.

Microsoft, which reportedly paid $400 million to be the 'official sideline technology sponsor of the NFL,' is understandably miffed at the free publicity being bestowed upon Apple Inc., one of its biggest rivals.

'Despite the majority of our friends in the booth correctly identifying the Surface on NFL sidelines, we're working with the league to coach up a select few,' a Microsoft spokesman said.

The blunders highlight the difficulty that many tech companies -- even enormous ones such as Microsoft -- face in a country dominated by iPhones and iPads.

'It's an Everest-like challenge for Microsoft, as well as other tech players that play in the tablet world, to distinguish themselves as their own brand,' said Daniel Ives, managing director at FBR Capital Markets. 'Apple has essentially established the tablet market as iPad, and part of what Microsoft is trying to do here is change perceptions. It has a lot of challenges in its path just given the cult-like movement behind Apple.'

Apple is the No. 1 tablet maker in the world, followed by Samsung and Lenovo. Microsoft doesn't crack the top 5, according to research firm IDC.

Apple's dominance in the tablet market has actually waned recently. But that decline has been almost entirely due to tablets running Google's Android operating system, and not because of the Surface. (continued...)

© 2014 Los Angeles Times (CA) under contract with NewsEdge. All rights reserved.

Posted: 2014-09-19 @ 10:50am PT

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