Microsoft has made the decision to permanently slash the price of the Surface Pro tablet in both the US and Europe after sales failed to climb following its initial release.
The Surface has been a stain on the Microsoft name for awhile. It was likely a key reason behind the forced retirement of CEO Steve Ballmer, and an embarrassment all around.
But the model exists, the project has long since been launched, and there is no going back. The only way to recover is to get the orders flowing, and the company has decided a lower price tag might make that happen.
In Europe, you will now be able to buy the Surface for €100 off the original price. In the United States you can now pick it up for $100 off with a further discount on the Touch Cover.
Originally, these cuts happened last month. But they were only supposed to be a limited time offer. Now Microsoft is continuing it as the permanent price in hopes of luring consumers back on board with the tablet device.
In its last fiscal quarter Microsoft took quite a hit with the Surface, writing off an estimates $900 million due to overstock. In other words, it was not nearly as successful as they had been projecting. Global sales have been weak, and they are getting desperate to move what they have already produced.
This product failure was just one in many disappointing releases in the last several years by the once dominant technology giant. The Windows Phone has never managed to make even a slight dent against either Apple or Android sales around the world. Windows 8 has found more dissenters than happy users, and 8.1 was released early for developers in hopes to whetting the public’s appetite for more. But even that move was badly received, thanks to their refusal to allow apps created using the OS to be published before its official launch.
Given how badly their moves have been, I find it hard to be optimistic about this price cut. Even with the $100 off, the 32GB with Touch Cover bundle is still $399.99. The 64 GB is $799 without the Touch Cover. It doesn’t seem as though people are going to be willing to spend so much for a product at a company that has needed to completely restructure itself just to get out of a decade long slump.
Maybe Microsoft should look into offering more affordable alternatives for awhile while they build their reputation again.
Source: The Verge
