[Rumor] Microsoft Considering Dumping the Surface Line

[dgstorm]

Here's a rumor we hope turns out to be utterly false. Supposedly, Microsoft is considering canceling the Surface product line. According to insider intel from Microsoft's supply line, the reason they are considering this move is because sales of the Surface Pro 3 have not met executive expectations. Supposedly, the Surface Pro 3 hasn't even cracked 1 million units sold yet, and may not.

In fact, Microsoft supposedly took at least $1.7 Billion in losses from the first two generation Surface products, and because of these mounting losses, Microsoft is likely to terminate the product line. It's worth noting that these rumors come from DigiTimes. They are typically one of the best sources of intel from the Asian supply line; however, their accuracy rate on intel is "spotty" at best, so take this with a grain of salt.

Here's a quote from the DigiTimes article,

Lacking a sufficient number of distribution partners, plus high prices, the first- and second-generation Surface tablets are estimated to have created losses of about US$1.7 billion, the sources noted.

Seeing large-size smartphones impacting tablet demand, the sources are concerned about upcoming demand for the Surface Pro 3.

With the factors above, the sources believe sales of the Surface Pro 3 are unlikely to surpass one million units, adding that Microsoft is also not very aggressive about development of a next-generation Surface and is likely to terminate the product line.

Source: DigiTimes

 

[smalltowngirl13]

This would be an interesting move but nothing would surprise me...

 

[dgstorm]

Even though this is from an unrelated source and is a completely separate issue, there is a separate bit of intel suggesting that Microsoft is considering dumping ARM to exclusively use Intel for all of their Surface product processors from now on. Hopefully his was the same intel, but got confused in the supply chain. Here's a link to that story: http://www.wpcentral.com/new-report-says-microsoft-may-end-production-arm-based-surface-tablets

 

[cereal killer]

It's not true according to Satya Nadella.

Businesses can buy with confidence. We are here to stay.

 

[tat3406]

Wait for new sale report, last August launching in 24 countries had very good respond. In Malaysia, surface pro 3 was back order more than a month, and I search others Asian countries also the same.

 

[GreyFox7]

Lesson from HP: don't be fickle. Stick with it and see it through, only then can you determine if it was a success or not a success. If its not doing well, look for how to improve it or change perceptions. Investing a ton of money on something then folding at the first gust of wind will send you straight to Loserville every time.

Windows RT is in many ways better than Windows. The Surface RT & Surface 2 are rock solid. I cannot say the Same for the Pro Line. I don't care that vendors have flooded the market with cheap small Windows Tablets. Unless the Windows Tablet somehow gets as solid as RT, users will vanish.

I think MS is letting Intel drive the bus, that's just WRONG. Win RT should be raised to a full First Class citizen OS with as much parity to Windows as humanly possible and beyond including Domain Join and full Enterprise capabilities excluding legacy apps. However it should have first rate remote desktop capability and support.

Don't make half hearted attempts, Do or Do Not. So far, IMO, Metro and RT have been just half hearted. They let partners sway decisions that compromised the strengths and they didn't follow through on the vision.

Metro or what ever they're calling it this week should have a Framework built that everyone can use to wrapper their code so development of compliant apps is brain dead easy. Don't make it an uphill battle, it should all feel like rolling downhill.

Why would you invest money to build a platform and let it languish because developers are otherwise focused on something else. Just finish the job and pay them to write the essential quality apps to get there. It's just another investment that's required to succeed.

For Christ's sakes, grab the wheel and Drive the bus.

 

[Arizona Willie]

People need to take ANYTHING in magazines from " tech writers " with a huge dose of skepticism.

Apple " pays " tech writers to hype their stuff and badmouth Microsoft. They loan the writers equipment to " test " and then conveniently forget to ask for them to return it. No wonder the writers hype the Applecrap.

If it's something about Microsoft, or their products, believe NOTHING until it comes from Microsoft.

 

[VickiFL]

Here's a thought....include the key cover in the price! I bet sales would increase and people would stop complaining about that.

 

[sharpuser]

To OP/moderators:
Please preserve the reputation of THIS board by changing the OP Subject to [FALSE] Microsoft... based upon official word here.

 

[goodintentions]

Lesson from HP: don't be fickle. Stick with it and see it through, only then can you determine if it was a success or not a success. If its not doing well, look for how to improve it or change perceptions. Investing a ton of money on something then folding at the first gust of wind will send you straight to Loserville every time.

Windows RT is in many ways better than Windows. The Surface RT & Surface 2 are rock solid. I cannot say the Same for the Pro Line. I don't care that vendors have flooded the market with cheap small Windows Tablets. Unless the Windows Tablet somehow gets as solid as RT, users will vanish.

I think MS is letting Intel drive the bus, that's just WRONG. Win RT should be raised to a full First Class citizen OS with as much parity to Windows as humanly possible and beyond including Domain Join and full Enterprise capabilities excluding legacy apps. However it should have first rate remote desktop capability and support.

Don't make half hearted attempts, Do or Do Not. So far, IMO, Metro and RT have been just half hearted. They let partners sway decisions that compromised the strengths and they didn't follow through on the vision.

Metro or what ever they're calling it this week should have a Framework built that everyone can use to wrapper their code so development of compliant apps is brain dead easy. Don't make it an uphill battle, it should all feel like rolling downhill.

Why would you invest money to build a platform and let it languish because developers are otherwise focused on something else. Just finish the job and pay them to write the essential quality apps to get there. It's just another investment that's required to succeed.

For Christ's sakes, grab the wheel and Drive the bus.

Speaking as a developer, I really wish what you say is true.

Unfortunately, my numbers are telling me something completely different.

I published my modern word app about 3 months ago. You can see the discussion thread here. Since then, I've added tons of new features. Just download the trial and see for yourself. I firmly believe it's not just another word editor app. I give instant support. Meaning if you want to see something done to it, I will do it. Heck, I even added in choice for bigger buttons for that guy that has poor eye sight. Yet, this app has about the same average daily downloads and daily buys nowadays as when it was first published as a simple text editor back in mid June.

That should tell you that people simply don't care about quality of apps. If I was smart, I should have stopped developing for it a couple months back. If anything, I can understand why there are so many hit-and-run developers out there. They publish a crap-app and you never hear from them ever again. People download and buy crap-apps at the same rate as quality apps.

I am currently working on 3 big new features for my app: export to pdf, write/edit equations/formulas, and translator. The only thing keeping me going is because this is a hobby. If I didn't have my day job, I would have starved long ago.

 

[GreyFox7]

Speaking as a developer, I really wish what you say is true.

Unfortunately, my numbers are telling me something completely different.

I published my modern word app about 3 months ago. You can see the discussion thread here. Since then, I've added tons of new features. Just download the trial and see for yourself. I firmly believe it's not just another word editor app. I give instant support. Meaning if you want to see something done to it, I will do it. Heck, I even added in choice for bigger buttons for that guy that has poor eye sight. Yet, this app has about the same average daily downloads and daily buys nowadays as when it was first published as a simple text editor back in mid June.

That should tell you that people simply don't care about quality of apps. If I was smart, I should have stopped developing for it a couple months back. If anything, I can understand why there are so many hit-and-run developers out there. They publish a crap-app and you never hear from them ever again. People download and buy crap-apps at the same rate as quality apps.

I am currently working on 3 big new features for my app: export to pdf, write/edit equations/formulas, and translator. The only thing keeping me going is because this is a hobby. If I didn't have my day job, I would have starved long ago.

You have a different perspective that's uniquely yours or that of the individual developer which is not invalid by any means. However, it takes a village...

The knock against the Windows ecosystem is largely that apps and quality apps are missing. One app by itself wont change that. To be sure, it's mostly a bogus claim anyway because the source of hat meme, Apple, has a product that's saddled with a weak mobile browser, and a small screen such that without custom apps the device is virtually useless. Thus the masterful There's an App for that campaign and the aggressive hawking of said apps as an essential ecosystem. Android, as a me also Apple knock off, is no better. Still, there are some things apps are useful for and those need to be there, others may need to be there simply because of the established perception. Fact is most anything you want to do is available on the web and having a Fully Featured Desktop browser means a Surface user doesn't need all the apps an iPad or Android user needs. However changing perception is much more difficult than simply going out and buying the essential apps to shut people up... err, satisfy the naysayers... err fill the users needs. That said, a smart marketing campaign countering the meme or eloquently making the Surface case would work but I see no indication of such an event happening.