14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft continues to bet big on its tablet business, and since the new Surface Pro 3 model is now up for grabs in the key markets across the world, the company can safely discontinue older versions and switch the focus to the latest.
This is what appears to be happening with the Surface Pro 2, Microsoft’s previously top of the range tablet that was launched with much fanfare last year, as the device is no longer available in the company’s online store.
There’s no announcement available right now, but while the product continues to be listed on the official Microsoft Store webpage, clicking the “Buy now” button gets users to a page saying that “this product is currently unavailable.”
It’s worth noting that this isn’t the typical message that Microsoft is using when a certain device is out of stock and it’s most likely an indication that the company is preparing to halt sales of this model in the near future.
Still available to organizations
Just like it happened with its predecessor, the Surface Pro 2 will continue to be available to companies and organizations around the world, obviously at discounted prices, as Microsoft is still trying to expand its tablet business in this particular sector.
The Surface Pro 3 continues to be quite an expensive tablet, so offering the Surface Pro 2 instead seems to be the best choice in the case of many organizations out there that might be interested in switching to Windows 8.1 tablets.
The Surface Pro 2 came with a 10.6-inch screen with 1920x1080px resolution, a 4th generation Intel Core i5 processor, 4 or 8 GB of RAM (depending on the version you chose), and a maximum of 512 GB of storage space. Pricing started at $799 (€635).
Full focus on the Surface Pro 3
There’s no doubt that the decision to discontinue the Surface Pro 2 is part of Microsoft’s strategy to switch the focus to the Pro 3, which is currently the company’s top of the range tablet model.
As compared to its predecessor, the Surface Pro 3 comes with a 12-inch screen, up to 8 GB of RAM and 512 GB of storage space, but also with a choice of three different CPU configurations ranging in between Intel Core i3 and i7.
Pricing, however, is quite a major setback in the case of the Surface Pro 3, as the top model comes with a price tag of $1,950 (€1,500) in the United States.
We’re still waiting for an official statement from Microsoft on the Surface Pro 2, so we’ll update the article when we get it.