Panos Panay launched the Floor Laptop computer 5 on the 2022 Floor occasion, so naturally, we have been anticipating Microsoft’s Chief Product Officer to current the next-generation of laptops and tablets on Thursday. “What’s on Thursday?” you ask. The 2023 Floor occasion. However this time, Panay is not going to be in attendance.
On Sept. 18, Panos Panay shook up the tech panorama after tweeting about his departure from Microsoft. “I’m ceaselessly grateful for my time at Microsoft and the superb folks I had the dignity to make merchandise with,” Panay mentioned.
As The Verge identified, Panay’s exit is sudden and surprising. In any case, simply final month, he was tweeting about how “pumped” he’s to be in NYC for the Sept. 21 Floor occasion. In accordance with Home windows Central, the Redmond-based tech big is reportedly unleashing a brand new Floor Laptop computer Go 3, Floor Laptop computer Studio 2, and Floor Go 4.
A Microsoft Floor Professional 10 might also be within the works, introducing a brand new variant (an 11-inch pill) alongside the extra acquainted 13-inch mannequin. Nonetheless, there seems to be a scarcity of consensus from the rumor mill about whether or not it’ll make an look on the Floor Occasion. (Home windows Central suspects it’ll get unveiled at Home windows vNext – not on Thursday).
The place is Panos headed subsequent?
In accordance with Bloomberg, citing “folks aware of the state of affairs,” Amazon is hiring Panos to switch Dave Limp, the big-box retailer’s former {hardware} chief. He shall be on the helm of the Alexa assistant and Echo good speaker division. Entering into Panos’ place shall be Microsoft’s Client Chief Advertising Officer Yusuf Mehdi.
Panos hopped aboard the Microsoft prepare in 2004 as a program supervisor for PC software program. In 2021, Panos joined the corporate’s senior management group as the manager vp, a task that enables Panos to work intently with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. All through his tenure, Panay led the corporate by means of many key services and products, together with the Floor line and Home windows 11.
In accordance with CNBC, though the Floor laptop computer line impressed different PC OEMs to comply with Microsoft’s playbook (e.g., the 2-in-1 convertible type issue), the gadgets failed to achieve quite a lot of proportion factors after 10 years in the marketplace. Bloomberg additionally talked about that Microsoft has “scaled again” Floor operation lately, probably because of slow-selling merchandise.
Microsoft Floor household
Credit score: Microsoft
What does Panos’ departure imply for the upcoming Floor occasion? The livestream, poised to broadcast at 1 p.m. ET on Sept. 21, will proceed as scheduled. Count on to see a gaggle of Floor gadgets in addition to some AI updates to Bing, Microsoft Edge, and Microsoft 365.
