Former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said that Microsoft is the only company going directly head to head with Apple, according an interview he gave to Bloomberg.
Here's what he said about Apple, according to a transcript of the interview provided to Tech Insider:
"Microsoft will give them a good run for their money. Nobody else has really tried to compete with them anymore really seriously in hardware. I mean who's really going after the Mac? Who's really going after the iPad? You could basically say Microsoft and Samsung. And Microsoft really is the only one that's got a software and a hardware capability. So if there's going to be any competition at all for Apple it will come from Microsoft."
Indeed, he might have a point.
Microsoft recently announced the Surface Book, the first laptop built by the company, during an event in early October. It was directly compared to Apple's MacBook Pro laptop. And anyone making comparisons in Surface Book reviews is making comparisons with the MacBook Pro, too.
There's also the Surface Pro 4 that Microsoft announced during the same event, which is designed more like a tablet but still works very much like a full computer. It's forcing Apple to alter its iPad strategy by releasing the large, productivity-driven iPad Pro because the Surface Pro tablets are posing a real threat to Apple.
Of course, there are other companies that compare their products to Apple's. But they're mostly companies that make products that run other operating systems. For example, Samsung's laptops run Microsoft's Windows 10. Samsung's tablets run Android.
Both the Surface Book and Surface Pro 4 are built by Microsoft, and they both run Microsoft's well-received Windows 10 operating system. The products are built for each other, much like Apple's products are built for each other, and it often results in a better product.
That's how Microsoft is "the only one that's got a software and a hardware capability" to compete with Apple.
