[aitt]

http://bgr.com/2013/07/19/microsoft-...akes-analysis/

[stmav]

Brought up in this post yesterday. http://forums.windowscentral.com/gen...gs-report.html

[aitt]

Brought up in this post yesterday. http://forums.windowscentral.com/gen...gs-report.html

I seen the post didn't read in the comments. Thanks

Edit I actually missed that one sentence. Seem to have read everything else

[jmerrey]

I would assume this has to go down as one of the biggest tech flops ever, when you consider money lost, reception by the general and tech press, etc.

[edoug]

I have one, it lags somewhat, but I can work effectively on it.

[Coreldan]

It's a shame.. I think the Surface RT is just brilliant in so many ways! I would buy it all over again. And I really hope that is some very Surface-like (with naturally up to date HW etc) device available in a few years when I would likely upgrade.

[enthuz]

I think that if the Pro was released first and then the RT 2nd as a cheaper alternative, then public acceptance would have been better and possibly better sales.

Sent from my PG86100 using WPCentral Forums mobile app

[Brad and Ellen]

And I say...so what? Surface RT is being supported through 2017, 2nd generation devices are being released and supported through 2019. MS reported a loss, well it must be the apocalypse come early! Quick run for the hills! Danger Will Robinson! Danger Will Robinson! Anyone remember the X-Box?

[spaulagain]

People freaking out about this must live under a rock. This isn't the first time MS or any other company has suffered a loss on initial release.

Microsoft has pretty much been out of the devices industry for a long time. Other than the Xbox, which some people probably don't even know is an MS product, all they have had is mouse and keyboards. For them to come out with a product like this in an emerging market, where they've never even been seen by consumers, and had limited availability in retail locations, is a pretty big gamble. I'm sure they knew the possibilities of a loss, maybe even expected it.

[StarLog]

M$ deserves the lost for crippling the RT. Especially the driver issues in 8.1.

[ag1986]

$900m, nearly a billion?! That explains the 11% drop on MSFT I saw. Good thing I sold a week ago :p

[inteller]

Inventory mismanagement and nothing else. Made too many for us and not enough for the rest of the world wanting them.

[spaulagain]

Inventory mismanagement and nothing else. Made too many for us and not enough for the rest of the world wanting them.

Ya, its not like they are never going to sell them and recoup the money.

I think their biggest issue was lack of availability in retail stores. It took them 3 months since launch just to get them in Best Buy. Why didn't they have that set up ahead of time?

[inteller]

That was part of it, but they really made too many for here.

[gilezzz]

I own an RT device and I like it. Having said that, they messed up both with RT and with Windows 8. Luckily for them they're a biig company and they also make money elsewhere. They can still fix Windows 8. Unfortunately, in the process they 1) angered and confused the Windows user base 2) damaged their OEM partners who saw their sales slump because of Win 8 3) overall looked a bit retard. Their desperation about surviving in the new mobile world probably made them rush things. Intel is late in the mobile world and that probably was one of the problems, too. Whatever. It's a big challenge for Microsoft and I'm sure they will fix Windows, maybe Windows 9 will be a blast?

[gsquared]

MSFT lost much more than that when they released the Xbox. The real question here is did MSFT expect to make any profit off the device to begin with? When you are bringing in 20B per quarter loosing 990M is less than 1%. The stock will likely fall a little more. Wait until it hits bottom and buy it. Consider it a gift.

[SeeVuPlay]

...Consider it a gift.

thank you sir, can i buy insurance

[jimkraz]

Here in Scotland, where I live, I had to travel 35miles to find a shop that actually had the Surface RT in stock for me to try out, I have three Currys and one PCWorld all within 6miles from my home and I could not buy direct from any of these stores, I did end up buying on line from PCWorld, but it would have been good to walk into a store and pick one up, have a good look at it, try it out, after all, if I'm going to spend well over 400 on a tablet, it would have been better to see a sample product even if I then had to order online, this to me is where MS failed themselves and us the buying public, I love my Surface, I also have a Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 that I was able to go and try out before purchase, if the Surface RT had been on the same display, I think I would have bought it then rather than the Galaxy Note, though I think for a android machine its a fantastic bit of kit, I do prefer my Surface. Jim

[inteller]

Yep, that right there is the core of the problem. Microsoft has interns running distribution. Same problem plagued Zune and it still plagues Bing services. Microsoft cannot transform itself as an international company.

[Flavio76]

I was in China two or one week after the release of the Pro... Couldn't find nowhere to see it... Only keyboards and some accessory left... I just find in one store after a whole week in shanghai.... Billboards, ads, everything done right...but... No Pro at all... Kkkkkk

[spaulagain]

I own an RT device and I like it. Having said that, they messed up both with RT and with Windows 8. Luckily for them they're a biig company and they also make money elsewhere. They can still fix Windows 8. Unfortunately, in the process they 1) angered and confused the Windows user base 2) damaged their OEM partners who saw their sales slump because of Win 8 3) overall looked a bit retard. Their desperation about surviving in the new mobile world probably made them rush things. Intel is late in the mobile world and that probably was one of the problems, too. Whatever. It's a big challenge for Microsoft and I'm sure they will fix Windows, maybe Windows 9 will be a blast?

PC sales actually went up a little bit when W8 was released. Its not MS's fault that the desktop/laptop sales are slowing down. 80% of users don't need anything more than a tablet to do their typical computer functions like browse and watch videos. That's why Tablet sales are growing. In addition, existing PCs last a lot longer, so people don't need to replace them as often. In fact, W8 is the first OS to actually have less hardware requirements.

MS knows exactly what it's doing as it turns Windows into a touch friendly OS. They may need to make the transition a little easier on legacy users. But they are heading in the right direction. The traditional PC is morphing into a mobile PC. In 5-10 years, most PCs will be a tablet.


Surface RT/Pro were simply early to the game and with a lack of retail channels selling it, they really had a small chance to sell. I think over the next couple years, MS will prove it knew where the market was going and is actually in front of the curve for once in its life.

[ninjaap]

Inventory mismanagement and nothing else. Made too many for us and not enough for the rest of the world wanting them.

I agree. I think they just over estimated demand once they decided to release it in more countries. As far as we know Surface RT still outsells the Surface Pro (from last reported). So I hardly think its a flop like some are making it out to be.

[michfan]

Ironic ... MS got the hardware right (best designed tablet available IMO) but screwed up the software (beta operating system, buggy and poorly featured core apps, no POP3 support, extreme lack of quality apps). I still love my Surface, it kills iPad as a productivity tool.

[inteller]

Only dinosaurs clamor for pop3 support

[tungha]

ideas of a tablet that closed to a laptop is great, but may be the way they present it to the customers failed. Currently, i see most of people buy a tablet just because of entertainment such as playing games, web browsing and a little work with mail, office. This is very hard to beat the iPad of Apple.