>That's only part of the reason. I keep coming back to what I said earlier. People don't buy tablets. They buy iPads. Microsoft has to convince people to buy a tablet. If MSFT leaves marketing primarily up to hardware vendors, as they seem to have done with the WinPhone, it won't take long for the press to declare Win8 Tablets will go the way of WebOS.

Here's a good short article that goes towards validating your comments about the downside of Microsoft leaving marketing of their devices to others, in this case mobile service providers, not hardware vendors.

Here's Why Microsoft Should Kill The Windows Phone Brand
http://www.businessinsider.com/heres-why-microsoft-should-kill-the-windows-phone-brand-2011-9#ixzz1YhRvQoNN