Liam Casey, chief executive officer of PCH International, has recently noticed a renewed appreciation for hardware makers in an industry that once seemed to praise software developers above all others.
“Silicon Valley is interested in hardware again, and Casey is riding the trend,” writes Businessweek. In the interview, Casey said: “Hardware is the new software.”
This appreciation was highlighted by Microsoft’s recent unveiling of its Surface tablet, seen as “a move that puts the company in direct competition with its traditional PC partners. Instead of crowing about the device’s apps, Microsoft executives gushed about its magnesium finish, kickstand, and a clever cover that doubles as a keyboard,” notes the article.
Google is getting ready to launch its own tablet, the Nexus 7. Amazon has been making Kindle hardware since 2007, making it “hard to find a large technology outfit that traffics only in bits,” according to the report.
It has long been the standard of many technology companies to rely on creating software while outsourcing the hardware-building at a cheaper price.
But that’s changing, largely due to Apple’s end-to-end success over the years, according to Harmut Esslinger, founder of Frog Design.
“They all thought they could get someone else to do the hard work,” he says. “Now they’re realizing that their hardware partners don’t have the vision to create anything holistic. And meanwhile, Apple is eating their breakfast, lunch, and dinner.”
Businessweek notes that last year Apple earned more profits than Microsoft for the first time since 1990.
Liam Casey, chief executive officer of PCH International, has recently noticed a renewed appreciation for hardware makers in an industry that once seemed to praise software developers above all others.
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