Apparently tired of watching Apple have all the fun (and make all the money) with tablets, Microsoft is holding an event on Monday where they’re expected to announce one of their own, kicking sand in the faces of OEM partners worldwide.

AllThingsD is reporting that Microsoft’s “major” event in Los Angeles on Monday afternoon will unveil a new “tablet strategy” — as in, Redmond will announce the company is actually manufacturing their own tablets to complete with Apple’s iPad.

“Sources say that Microsoft concluded that it needs its own tablet, with the company designing both the hardware and software in an effort to better compete against Apple’s strengths,” the report reveals. “Microsoft’s tablets may include machines running ARM-based processors as well as models running on traditional PC processors, sources said.

“The move could allow Microsoft to better match Apple’s tight integration, but it is also fraught with the potential for conflict,” the report continues. “Microsoft makes most of its money from Windows and Office, and depends on an ecosystem of PC makers like Dell, HP, Acer and Lenovo to make those Windows-based machines.”

And yes, those same companies have already been developing Windows 8 and Windows RT-based tablets of their own, which can’t exactly sit well with companies used to having Redmond dictate the software while they take care of the rest.

Of course, we’ve also heard the same rumors about Google, who is said to have a Nexus-branded Android tablet of their own that could be unveiled as early as the end of the month at their I/O developer conference.

Steve Jobs would have loved the irony: After years of Microsoft playing the software-only card and dominating the PC market, the iPad comes along and has Redmond again scrambling to get back into the hardware business. Remember the last time Microsoft played catch up with Apple on hardware? (Spoiler: It was the Zune, and we all know how that turned out.)

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Article source: http://www.maclife.com/article/news/microsoft_%E2%80%9Cmajor%E2%80%9D_event_monday_act_surprised_when_they_announce_tablet