One week ago, Microsoft announced its updated Windows tablet lineup, the Surface 2 and the Surface Pro 2. The announcement was greeted with little fanfare, but proved that Microsoft is pushing ahead with its tablet plans, despite the failure of the first generation of Surface tablets. The company took a $900 million inventory adjustment in its latest quarterly report due to an abundance of unsold Surface RT tablets.
Now it’s looking as if the second-generation Surface tablets might suffer the same fate as their predecessors. A new DigiTimes Research report is predicting that the new Surface tablets will not help Microsoft make inroads into the tablet market.
The most obvious reason for this prediction is price. DigiTimes points out that even less expensive Windows 8 tablets from other manufacturers have failed to ignite sales of the devices. The Surface 2’s $449 price is unlikely to make it competitive with a variety of less-expensive tablets.
Some other factors were also mentioned. These include the fact that Nokia (which Microsoft just acquired) is set to release new Windows 8 Lumia tablets soon, and the assertion that Microsoft Office is also experiencing slow adoption on mobile devices.
Though these factors certainly play a role the main problem, according to DigiTimes, is that Microsoft is using its PC OS as the jumping-off point for its mobile development. With PC sales now falling, Microsoft could be left struggling in the mobile sector.
(Image courtesy Microsoft)