When Microsoft unveiled Surface on Monday, June 18, CEO Steve Ballmer said that its larger OEMs had been informed beforehand. That's not true according to some OEMs, so why would Microsoft remain coy on Surface's details?

The Verge asked Dell on the situation, and the company maintained its official line that Windows 8 products are coming. It was largely the same for Lenovo, but the company added Android tablets mean the company is positioned to take advantage of both markets.

Though Reuters claimed the announcement was made to OEMs three days before the June 18 conference, apparently Steven Sinofsky didn't reveal details about the tablets, probably because of the fear of OEMs announcing products that resembled Surface. Still, with just three days before the announcement OEMs wouldn't be able to build a machine. Any paranoia from Microsoft seems a little pointless.

That probably meant OEMs had to watch the conference like the press and other consumers, which seems unprofessional considering that companies are getting information as it arrives.

Some OEMs even heard on the day of the announcement, in the case of Acer and Asustek. Microsoft may have held back the reveal to partners because of caution over developing a competitive relationship. Surface competes with third-party tablets; Microsoft doesn't build its own hardware, in the case of PCs and Windows Phone.

As a result, there's now a question over whether partners will look for other platforms for devices. The answer is, probably, no. Microsoft estimated during the conference up to 500 million Windows 8 products will arrive in 2013 - an all-time record - and Surface is two out of 300 million, which means there's a huge market for OEMs. Most manufacturers won't switch to Android as there isn't the user base, and developers aren't heavily using the platform. Of course, only Apple builds products for iOS.

Microsoft also said during the conference Surface is designed to bring better products from OEMs, not direct competition. Early impressions from the press have been positive, with praise directed towards the slim form factor and magnetic keyboards.

Surface will launch around the release of Windows 8.