Microsoft’s New Surface Tablets Are Selling Well, But Tough Times Could be Ahead
The company recently announced that the Windows RT and Windows 8.1 versions of their surface tablets are in short supply.This means that it will soon be difficult to find the Surface 2 and the Surface 2 Pro editions of Microsoft’s tablets. Microsoft did not provide any specifics on this apparent shortage; the company simply stated that it does exist.
This is perhaps a welcomed comeback for Microsoft since the original generation of Surface tablets did not sell as expected. The tablets suffered from a lackluster app library and sluggish performance. In the end, Microsoft booked a $900 million write-down. These tablets are still on the market at a reduced price.
The Surface Tablets are Microsoft’s way of throwing their eggs into a basket practically dominated by Apple’s Ipad. The Android tablets have tried to dethrone Apple´s golden child, and have had a fair, yet insufficient, amount of success. This time around, Microsoft hopes to finally achieve success through hardware improvements. The Pro edition will feature a “full laptop in tablet design” while the Surface 2 will sport a watered down version of Windows 8. The tablets became available for preorder on September 24th and will be available on October 22nd.
However, Microsoft’s recent success has not come without challenges. The inventory adjustments for the original Surface tablets mentioned above are not yet ancient history. Furthermore, Dell has become the latest company to stop developing for the Windows RT Operating System. This operating system is design specifically to work with phones and other handheld gadgets. The OS has had a less than stellar reaction from consumers, due in part to the fact that it is unable to run traditional Windows programs. Regardless, Microsoft definitely has its work cut out for it if it wants to a contender in the industry that Apple has come to excel in.
