Panos Panay introduced the Surface Laptop 5 at the fair Surface Event 2022so of course we expected Microsoft’s Chief Product Officer to present the next generation of laptops and tablets on Thursday. “What’s Thursday?” you ask. The Surface event of 2023. But this time Panay will not be present.
On September 18, Panos Panay shook up the technology landscape after he tweeted about his departure from Microsoft. “I am forever grateful for my time at Microsoft and the wonderful people I have had the honor of creating products with,” said Panay.
Tweet may have been deleted
If The edge As mentioned, Panay’s departure is sudden and unexpected. After all, last month he tweeted about how “pumped” he is to be in New York for the September 21 Surface event. According to Windows Centralthe Redmond-based tech giant is reportedly launching a new Surface Laptop Go 3, Surface Laptop Studio 2 and Surface Go 4.
A Microsoft Surface Pro 10 may also be in the works, which will introduce a new variant (an 11-inch tablet) in addition to the better-known 13-inch model. However, there seems to be a lack of consensus within the rumor mill as to whether it will appear at the Surface Event. (Windows Central guess it will be revealed during Windows vNext – not on Thursday).
Where does Panos go now?
According to Bloomberg, citing “people familiar with the situation,” Amazon is hiring Panos to replace the big-box retailer’s former hardware chief Dave Limp. He will be at the helm of the Alexa assistant and Echo smart speaker division. Taking Panos’ place will be Yusuf Mehdi, Microsoft’s Consumer Chief Marketing Officer.
Panos jumped on the Microsoft bandwagon in 2004 as a PC software program manager. In 2021, Panos joined the company’s senior leadership team as executive vice president, a role that allows Panos to work closely with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. During his tenure, Panay led the company through many key products and services, including the Surface line and Windows 11.
According to CNBCAlthough the Surface laptop line inspired other PC OEMs to follow Microsoft’s playbook (the 2-in-1 convertible form factor, for example), the devices failed to gain more than a few percentage points after a decade on the market. Bloomberg also mentioned that Microsoft has “scaled back” its Surface business in recent years, likely due to slow-selling products.
Microsoft Surface family
Credit: Microsoft
What does Panos’ departure mean for the upcoming Surface event? The livestream, which will air on September 21 at 1:00 PM ET, will go ahead as planned. Expect to see a large number of Surface devices, as well as some AI updates for Bing, Microsoft Edge, and Microsoft 365.