[keepkalm]

Why hardware? Because delivery of Microsoft mobile services across Apple & Google devices puts them at a strategic disadvantage in the marketplace. Google isn't going to send users to Bing or Office when people get an Android phone. If the Nokia camera really was what people wanted Windows Mobile probably would have been a HUGE hit and Bing would probably sneak up a bit in share of the search market.

That is the best reason why, it raises the floor for other core services.

It is a quality device, but the marketing just seems wrong. Too expensive, different models of the Surface are radically different products, doesn't have the developers that iOS or Android has, and just didn't take off for some reason.

I don't see a reason to not make the Surface, people I know who have them, love them, and that is something that could be built on. That used to be the space that Apple occupied in the 90s, small user base with intense adoration and love and eventually came to be a dominant player in personal computing.