It was one, two, three strikes, you're out for Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) this week, as the big contenders in the tablet games stepped to the plate and continued to make news for investors. According to Fool.com analyst Eric Bleeker, the match-ups all spelled trouble for the software giant.

While Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) dominated the action with its grand-slam iPad and iPhone products, Microsoft had to watch as Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ) walked away from a long-standing tablet development deal in order to capitalize on its own recent acquisition of Palm. As a result, Microsoft appeared to have conceded defeat in this market when it announced that it was throwing in the towel on the Courier -- another blow in a decade of tablet setbacks for the computing giant. 

Hey, Steve Ballmer, is it time to hit the showers?

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