Microsoft Writes Off $900 Million on Surface Tablets

http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/articles/4...-takes-900-million-charge-surface-tablets.htm

 

Never had any success after Windows Mobile and still trying to sacrifice desktop/notebook users. Any predictions?

 

Only 900 million? Those dancing commercials that air an hour a day on every station cost more than that. Pssssst

 

My offer still stands. I can barter to get them a few takers at 50 cents a pop but that's the limit.

 

Heck I might even outbid you by 100x at $50.00 a piece. If I can put Linux Mint on them.

 

I had a feeling these 'Surface' tablets wouldn't sell. They were overpriced to begin with & I don't know who or what market they were aimed at.

 

If MS would just run those dancing ads 24hrs a day on every station.



Then I could stop watching TV & interact with my fellow human beings more. Come on MS only 23hrs a day more to go!

 

RT is a completely different monster from Pro, but with Pro being pointlessly as high priced as it is, it's bad news regardless for MS. They just completely suck at mobile, plain and simple. Maybe next time something gets "hot" they won't wait so damn long to get into the game.

 

Their pricing was stupid from the get go. Their pricing is still stupid! Even with the new markdowns. They should do what HP did awhile ago, blowout all remaining stock of RT & Pro at fire sale prices starting at $99.

Then come out with better hardware (none of the BS crippled ARM architecture) & full OSs no starter or crippled OSs. The pricing needs to be half of what Apple charges for at least 90% as good of hardware.

And no more st**** as **** dancing ads!

 

They are dropping the price of RT, for a short time at least. Pro should be cheaper when it has a new generation, but I wouldn't look for too much cheaper. If they keep it the same price, they're even more stupid than I believe them to be already as it is. You're not going to compete with 900 dollar tablets in a world eating up 300 dollar Androids like candy or even 600 dollar iPads. Especially not when you arrive after said alternatives have already saturated the market.

 

http://www.computerworld.com/s/arti...future_even_as_analysts_see_platform_s_demise

 

Same thing happened with Zune! I have two Zunes that Microsoft no longer supports!

 

yup loved my zune but really never had any support.

 

I just wanted to see the firmware for Zune continue to improve, and add more features. I use one for music, and the other I use for my Foreign Language studies.

 

Never buy gadgets for their future potential. They will either break or become outdated before that future ever gets here.

 

I´m actually a bit surprised about this, I´m personally not into tablets, but it did look kinda cool.

LOL

 

The pricing was unrealistic. With what Apple and Android are charging, Microsoft didn't have a prayer of cracking the mobile market.

Steve Ballmer is responsible for this as well as the Windows 8 fiasco but since he's the boss, its hard for the company to show him the door!

 

Surface will end up like Blackberry Playbook.
Started from around 600$ (maybe more, I do not recall..)...now available for less than 200$..
And people still do not buy it.

 

With all the tech coming to market and bombing out; the mfgs need to pay me for my time spent transitioning back and forth between defunct devices.

Thankfully I don't do that sort of thing anymore.

 

No body likes the fugly Windows 8 interface on a tablet no matter the snazzy advertising Microsoft pushed for the Surface Tablet! But Ballmer and Microsoft honchos ignore the clear market verdict and instead of listening to the customers, they double down on a proven disaster! Microsoft has its own Edsel in Windows 8 and the products spun off from it.

 

When there's a product that fills a need people want, they buy it! What need does Windows 8 fulfill that Windows 7 can't? Nothing and the marketing folks in Redmond know it and this is why they took such big write off on Microsoft's Windows 8 tablets They're as much a flop as the reviled operating system that was supposed to be Microsoft's salvation in the mobile market!

 

BINGO!
They aren't only losing money on the tablets . . . they are alienating their usual customers, they are screwing up their main product . . . Windows for PC.

 

I would love to have a tablet that will run Office. I wanted to buy a Surface Pro, but instead bought a ultrabook for about the same price last October before the Surface Pro came out. I would still like to have some thing lighter weight that would run Office. If I'm not mistaken, none of the tablets run Office.

Am I the only one who would like a tablet to run Office?

Fire Fly

 

If you mean full-blown Microsoft Office, then you'll need a tablet that runs Windows 8 Pro or Windows 7 / Vista. Basically any x86 tablet that meets the minimum requirements of Windows and Office will do.

Personally, I don't see the point of full-blown Office on something that limits your typing by default. Android and iOS apps (like Kingsoft Office) are plenty good enough, unless you want to transform the tablet into a workstation.

 

http://allthingsd.com/20130730/asus-pulling-back-on-windows-rt-chairman-says/