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Microsoft Forced to Slash Surface RT Prices Despite Vigorous Anti-iPad Ad Campaign

Wow; the sales figures between the Surface and the iPad are quite staggering. I had no idea, but if I would have guessed prior to seeing this knowledge, I would have thought the Surface sold more than this.

I used one for a day and it wasn't a bad device once I figured out how to use it.
 
MacRumors said:
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Microsoft is planning to drop the prices of its Surface RT tablets by $150, reports The Verge. The lower prices, which will go into effect on Sunday July 14, are likely the result of lackluster sales.

Microsoft has reportedly sold just 1.5 million tablets since the Surface RT and Pro were released back in October of 2012 and February of 2013, respectively, with 400,000 of those being the Surface RT.
Click to expand...

Wow.. talk about article fail. :rolleyes:

Your source article for sales figures is from March 14. The Pro had only been out for a little over a month.
The 400,00 figure was for the Pro version, not the RT version.
Surface RT sold approx. 1.1 million units in the last quarter of 2012.
No other numbers have been released since.
 
$99 fire sale by the fall

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rjohnstone said:
Wow.. talk about article fail. :rolleyes:

Your source article for sales figures is from March 14. The Pro had only been out for a little over a month.
The 400,00 figure was for the Pro version, not the RT version.
Surface RT sold approx. 1.1 million units in the last quarter of 2012.
No other numbers have been released since.
Click to expand...
Show proof or its just BS!
 
cmwade77 said:
They are still too expensive. What Microsoft needed to do was come out at $99 for about 6 months to a year. Yes, they would take a major loss in the short term, but hear me out.

You sell initially at a loss to get a lot of market share, because in today's world that is where it counts. Once they had established the marketshare, then they could sell at normal prices that they can make a profit off of.

This is assuming that people actually liked Windows tablets (clearly they don't).
Click to expand...

Yep, they should have started at a lower price-point. Of course, Microsoft tried the tablet experience way before Apple did, but that was essentially just Windows XP running on a touchscreen. XP's designed for a keyboard and mouse, not a finger.

A decade or so later, and Microsoft make the same bloody mistake again. They make a tablet that's not 100% designed for touchscreen (the Desktop is for mouse & keyboard), and they make a desktop OS that isn't quite designed for keyboard & mouse. It's absolutely infuriating to watch; Microsoft just don't get it.

Better competition means more innovation/lower prices. Unfortunately Steve Ballmer 'ballsed' it up, leaving angry consumers and further Apple domination. It's just really, really frustrating.
 
Microsoft is run by businessmen. They think all anyone wants to do on their tablets is edit spreadsheets and other business-related activities that I'm sure the fools at Microsoft do all the time. They also think people will be impressed by pure gimmicks and dancing. It's pretty embarrassing really...
 
It's been a long time since I looked at another brand of tablet in person. That was the Motorola Xoom, and I thought it was fairly nice but too expensive and it didn't have the apps of the iPad. So..

Are iPads really that much better than every other brand? Nobody can even compete? Or has Apple just done the same thing they did with the iPod and made tablet synonymous with iPad so that nobody even considers anything else?

I would like to see some healthy competition but right now none of the other manufacturers can come close to matching the iOS app store so I will be sticking with iPad for the time being.
 
I would rather have a Surface Pro than RT. I'd also rather have one with a haswell chip. I'd also rather not pay $900 for one.
 
ConCat said:
Microsoft is run by businessmen. They think all anyone wants to do on their tablets is edit spreadsheets and other business-related activities that I'm sure the fools at Microsoft do all the time. That's just for their pro tablet. For the RT, they think people will be impressed by pure gimmicks and dancing. It's pretty embarrassing really...
Click to expand...

This is exactly right. Microsoft thinks that 'their market' is business. They think they can corner the business market by showing what kind of multitasking you can do on their device and what software it has. They don't realize that the best way to get to the business market is to make the device ubiquitous with consumers so that companies almost have to use it. Look how the airlines adopted the iPad for cockpit use even though it is a very consumer-oriented device. Make something that people actually desire and it will sell.
 
Wow I was going to buy a new iPad Mini for school this year but now that price does look tempting.
 
I hope that they can recover from this. As much as I am still not sold on Windows 8 as a whole I still think it has fundamentally sound ideas. I am definitely an Apple enthusiast but I would hate to see Microsoft pull out of the race. Competition is nice but choice is more the issue. 3 or more serious source to choose from for tablet OS is nice.
 
Have you physically seen one of these things? They're big and heavy. The only way they sell these are through retailers like Best Buy, where they shove them down ignorant consumers who are looking for the next "hottest" product.
 
Surreal said:
I hope that they can recover from this. As much as I am still not sold on Windows 8 as a whole I still think it has fundamentally sound ideas. I am definitely an Apple enthusiast but I would hate to see Microsoft pull out of the race. Competition is nice but choice is more the issue. 3 or more serious source to choose from for tablet OS is nice.
Click to expand...
I think they'll recover just fine.
The RT platform is an odd one and may not survive, but the Pro is a great device.
Waiting for a Haswell version even though the current one is not bad at all.

reden said:
Have you physically seen one of these things? They're big and heavy.
Click to expand...
The RT is 1.5 lbs... same weight as an iPad.
The Pro is 2 lbs.
 
I use both flavors of the Surface. The Surface Pro is a nice device but way overpriced.

The RT version just needs to die. It's underpowered, has crappy battery life and as an enterprise device is just as useless as an iPad.
 
ConCat said:
Microsoft is run by businessmen. They think all anyone wants to do on their tablets is edit spreadsheets and other business-related activities that I'm sure the fools at Microsoft do all the time. They also think people will be impressed by pure gimmicks and dancing. It's pretty embarrassing really...
Click to expand...

That, plus a number close to infinity. From the right
 
clukas said:
not aggressive enough in my opinion. They need to get those prices down to compete with the iPad. Price is the only reason someone would choose a Windows RT tablet over an iPad. $299 should be the sweet spot for the RT, but if they priced them below then they could start selling more. If they were priced at $199 I would buy one just to have one, no questions asked. I think Microsoft need to revisit their strategy.
Click to expand...

I think it is worse than that. By now everybody knows that the RT (this generation at least) is dead. There is almost no software for it, and software written for a future model (if there even is one) will in many cases conflict with this devices specs. So, what can it really do? Surf the web, answer email and use a crippled version of Office that is only somewhat usable with a wobbly keyboard and a tragic trackpad (for a $100 more). In addition, the 32 GB model has almost no usable storage space left.

People know that this will not be the last price cut. By September you will likely get one of those for $199 or less.
 
Surface...Slashed
 

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