14 DAY TRIAL // Sales of Microsoft's Surface RT tablet are now taking off, according to a new report, pretty much thanks to the tech giant's $150 (€110) discount announced a couple of weeks ago.
WinRT Source has tried to determine whether the price cut has boosted Surface RT sales by contacting 20 different Microsoft stores across the US and asking about recent shipments of the device.
100 percent of them claimed that Microsoft's tablet is selling like hot cakes, pointing to the aforementioned discount as the main reason.
While Microsoft is yet to comment on this report, it's pretty clear that the Softies are very pleased with it, especially because the company has often been criticized for the way its tablet performed in the first months on the market.
CEO Steve Ballmer has even admitted internally that the Surface RT isn't selling “good enough,” pointing out that he had much higher expectations from the company's first tablet in history.
In fact, the Redmond-based firm even had to turn to a $900 million (€780 million) write-down to adjust Surface RT inventories due to unsold tablets across the world.
At the same time, Microsoft is also preparing the second-generation Surface tablet, a revamped product lineup that's said to come with upgraded hardware and Windows 8.1.
In addition to lots of hardware improvements, the new Surface family is also expected to include a smaller unit, possibly an 8-inch device, designed specifically to compete against the leaders of the small tablet segment, namely Apple iPad mini and Nexus 7.
Word is that Microsoft is trying to make its smaller Surface very affordable, with a price tag somewhere in the region of $250 (€210), in an attempt to tackle growing demand for this kind of devices. Unofficial sources have indicated that the second-generation Surface should be here by October, just in time for the holiday season.