14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft’s Surface Mini never came to be, but it was clearly one of the most eagerly awaited devices expected to come out of the Redmond-based tech giant.
The Surface Mini was in fact projected to see daylight on May 20, the day when the company instead introduced the Surface Pro 3 and preferred to delay the unveiling of the smaller tablet.
However, it turns out that Microsoft actually killed the project and the company’s financial earnings unveiled earlier today come to confirm this. A short mention of the Surface revenues reveals that a new form factor was cancelled by the company.
“Current year cost of revenue included Surface inventory adjustments resulting from our transition to newer generation devices and a decision to not ship a new form factor,” the documents reads, suggesting that the Surface Mini was indeed killed before it ever got the chance to see daylight.
What’s more surprising is that people close to the matter indicated that the Surface Mini could once again see daylight sometime in the near future if everything went according to the plan, but it turns out that Microsoft actually decided to pull the plug on it and never bring it to the market.
The Surface Mini was expected to be marketed as a note-taking device, coming with an 8-inch screen and an advanced digital pen that would make it very simple to write down text and make drawings. The same pen is also being offered to Surface Pro 3 buyers, so the Surface Mini was expected to be quite an advanced device that would have come in handy to students and teachers.
Still, surces revealed that the new Microsoft CEO and Stephen Elop, former Nokia boss and currently in charge of the company’s Devices group, tested the Surface Mini and decided not to launch it because it didn’t bring too many new things compared to similar devices already on the market.
Nonetheless, it appears that Microsoft has already build some 20,000 Surface Mini tablets, which made many believe that the device might actually be released at some point in the future, especially because the company is still working to expand its product lineup in the hardware business.
The Surface Mini was also expected to be quite affordable, with some people close to the matter saying that Microsoft was even planning to sell the device for $250 (€180) if it decided to bring it to the market.