While Microsoft?s entry into the tablet space brings some welcomed competition, at first glance the play does not appear to offer a compelling mobile use case.

Microsoft said this week that it is throwing its hat into the tablet ring with two 10.6-inch Surface tablets, one built on the Windows RT operating system and the other on Windows 8 Pro. While Microsoft, with its strong desktop heritage, knows a lot about local storage and WiFi connectability, the new tablets suggest it may still have a way to go when it comes to understanding what mobile users are looking for in a device.

?I got the impressions that Microsoft is focusing on providing more storage locally to do more things and to hold more data,? said Jeff Orr, group director of consumer research at ABI Research, New York.

?The concept of a local device is that it is always connected but I didn?t hear a strong message about how the tablets connect when they are outside of WiFi,? he said.

?Today, the majority of tablets only have Wi-Fi in them but ABI Research believes that the true mobile use case for tablets has yet to appear. This is an opportunity, but I didn?t hear Microsoft articulate who their audience is or how users will be engaging with the device and to do what kinds of tasks that they are not inclined to do on other devices.?

Taking control
Per Mr. Orr, he would have liked to hear more about from Microsoft in this announcement about its cloud-based services.

One reason why coming out with its own tablets could make sense for Microsoft is that the strategy could give the company greater control over the Microsoft tablet experience. Such a top-to-bottom approach is at least part of the reason for Apple?s success in the mobile space and why Google wanted to buy Motorola.

?The justification has to be that they are in control of their destiny,? Mr. Orr said. ?Rather than always being the software provider, they are adding to that by including their own areas of expertise in hardware design,? Mr. Orr said.

?It puts them on a more level playing field with Google and Apple."

Microsoft also recognizes that the tablet space is still relatively young, meaning that many vendors still have not solidified their position in the market and there is still an opportunity to attract newcomers to the category.

Some of Microsoft?s potential advantages in the tablet space is that it has a strong gaming experience in the Xbox that could become available and work best on Microsoft hardware.

Another advantage is Microsoft?s new, closer relationships with Intel and Nvidia, who are now integral suppliers to Microsoft and could provide the company with additional knowledge into the hardware supply chain.

Windows Phone 7 disappoints
Microsoft?s tablet strategy does present some challenges for the company, including that this puts the company in competition with its OEM partners who are making tablets based on Windows 8, including Dell, HP, Acer, Lenovo and Nokia.

However, one reason why Microsoft may have decided it needs to come out with its own tablets is because there has not been the kind of response to Nokia?s Windows products as the company may have hoped for.

?One of the reasons we are picking up from in industry sources that Microsoft is taking more control is due to the lackluster results of Windows partner Nokia,? said Shaw Wu, an analyst with Sterne Agee, Birmingham, AL. ?Despite heavy promotion and advertising and carrier desire to have a viable alternative to Android and iOS, Windows Phone 7 has found disappointing customer acceptance.?

It remains to be seen what pricing strategy Microsoft will go with for the tablets and whether it will choose to pursue the lower-end of the market where Kindle Fire has taken off by selling tablets for $199 or at the higher end, where iPad reigns supreme with starting price points of $399.

Developer support
Another challenge Microsoft faces is being able to rally developers to create apps for its tablets. Developers play a key role these days in the success or failure of mobile ecosystems because of how popular they are with consumers.

Microsoft is already displaying some strength in the development space.

While Apple holds a strong lead over Google?s Android for developer support, according to data from Flurry Analytics, Microsoft is growing quickly, albeit off a small base.

Over the past 12 months, mobile app project starts for Windows Phone have grown by more than 600 percent and now account for 6 percent of all new project starts, according to Flurry Analytics. In comparison, project starts for RIM have remained flat even as project starts overall have grown by approximately 50 percent.

Microsoft?s tablet play will be less competitive against the Kindle Fire at least initially because the Fire already has a strong digital content ecosystem.

?I wanted to be more surprised and I wasn?t,? Mr. Orr said. ?What hasn?t been addressed is what makes this distinct from other tablet products. It is not price, it doesn?t appear to be performance.

?There was nothing that was described that gives it a definitive advantage over the iPad or Android community,? he said. There was nothing that would make consumers say they are going to hold off and wait to buy a tablet until Microsoft?s devices become available.?

Final Take
Chanrtal Tode is associate editor on Mobile Marketer, New York