JasonMiles Posted July 19, 2013 Share Posted July 19, 2013 Microsoft on Thursday reported lower-than-expected quarterly earnings as faltering PC sales ate into its Windows business and the company took an unexpected $900 million (?591m) charge for its inventory of unsold Surface tablets, sending its shares down 5% in after hours trading. The massive charge underlines the struggles of the world's largest software company, which last week announced a deep reorganisation to transform itself into a "devices and services" leader, but is struggling to make mobile devices as attractive as those from Apple or Samsung. http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/articles/492120/20130718/microsoft-takes-900-million-charge-surface-tablets.htm Link to comment https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/1165615-microsoft-writes-off-900-million-on-surface-tablets/ Share on other sites More sharing options...
TruckWEB Posted July 19, 2013 Share Posted July 19, 2013 First batch of Surface RT, while good, suffered from poor Tegra3 performance and Windows 8.0 and lack of good "Modern" apps. Bring on Surface RT 2 with a better CPU/GPU and Windows 8.1 and it should get better. Oh and please, go 1080!!! Brandon H 1 Share Link to comment https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/1165615-microsoft-writes-off-900-million-on-surface-tablets/#findComment-595826881 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rudy Posted July 19, 2013 Share Posted July 19, 2013 Not really unexpected, while I've seen many ads for them I've yet to have seen anyone use one. I must admit they did a great job with the keyboard, it's one thing i really wished Apple would include in the iPad5 Link to comment https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/1165615-microsoft-writes-off-900-million-on-surface-tablets/#findComment-595826887 Share on other sites More sharing options...
game_over Posted July 19, 2013 Share Posted July 19, 2013 Never seen one used and never seen one in any shops, only advertising i've seen is some crazy dancing advertisement on TV which really didn't sell them at all. I'm sure it's a great device but without apps it's nothing.. The guy above says 'bring on RT2', if the app adoption rate is the same then it's not going to be an improvement at all.. Link to comment https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/1165615-microsoft-writes-off-900-million-on-surface-tablets/#findComment-595826891 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phouchg Posted July 19, 2013 Share Posted July 19, 2013 Gah. Better to write off than make available in more countries and stores. iPads, Android tablets, both proper and knockoffs of all kinds are available in every store that I know of. This thing here - rarely anybody who isn't technically inclined has even heard about it, much less has considered or knows how to get a hold of one. They were two years late to the market, what did they expect? Disappointed former Apple/Google cultists standing in lines for days for the long awaited enlightment and spiritual uplift? They're not even trying to compete! Seriously, if this is where the dancing monkey is leading that whole circus and trying to play the card of Surface's fake exclusivity, well deserved. Write off, stomp on them and then bury them in the desert. LaP 1 Share Link to comment https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/1165615-microsoft-writes-off-900-million-on-surface-tablets/#findComment-595826935 Share on other sites More sharing options...
reactionary007 Posted July 19, 2013 Share Posted July 19, 2013 Wow - 900 million is a lot of money. Almost 1billion dollars! Ouch... Link to comment https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/1165615-microsoft-writes-off-900-million-on-surface-tablets/#findComment-595826943 Share on other sites More sharing options...
ahhell Posted July 19, 2013 Share Posted July 19, 2013 Wow - 900 million is a lot of money. Almost 1billion dollars! Ouch... Your math skills are astounding!! :laugh: Not a big surprise. RD alone on the Surface would have been hundreds of millions. Nashy 1 Share Link to comment https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/1165615-microsoft-writes-off-900-million-on-surface-tablets/#findComment-595826963 Share on other sites More sharing options...
neufuse Veteran Posted July 19, 2013 Veteran Share Posted July 19, 2013 It's the Windows RT versions that are causing them problems, honestly, I think the ARM route was a waste of time and money for MS... make the ARM version be the phone OS and ditch windows mobile... people don't seem to want a watered down version of windows for ARM Link to comment https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/1165615-microsoft-writes-off-900-million-on-surface-tablets/#findComment-595826967 Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShadowMajestic Posted July 19, 2013 Share Posted July 19, 2013 It's the Windows RT versions that are causing them problems, honestly, I think the ARM route was a waste of time and money for MS... make the ARM version be the phone OS and ditch windows mobile... people don't seem to want a watered down version of windows for ARM If MS didn't aim for ARM, Intel and AMD wouldn't have invested so heavily in creating low-powered chipsets. Seems it was a 'risk' they had to take. TPreston 1 Share Link to comment https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/1165615-microsoft-writes-off-900-million-on-surface-tablets/#findComment-595826995 Share on other sites More sharing options...
neufuse Veteran Posted July 19, 2013 Veteran Share Posted July 19, 2013 If MS didn't aim for ARM, Intel and AMD wouldn't have invested so heavily in creating low-powered chipsets. Seems it was a 'risk' they had to take. there would of still been the phone markets, I'm just saying ARM on a tablet for windows wasn't the best idea... move windows RT to the phone and ditch the phone OS Link to comment https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/1165615-microsoft-writes-off-900-million-on-surface-tablets/#findComment-595827055 Share on other sites More sharing options...
primexx Posted July 19, 2013 Share Posted July 19, 2013 So many unsold. Maybe they should give all of us who pre-ordered an extra one as a thank you, since' they've written it off already anyway :P -T- 1 Share Link to comment https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/1165615-microsoft-writes-off-900-million-on-surface-tablets/#findComment-595827057 Share on other sites More sharing options...
sc302 Veteran Posted July 19, 2013 Veteran Share Posted July 19, 2013 surface rt garbage...surface pro hard to get hands on. It isn't the pro that hasn't sold, it is the rt no one wants. Link to comment https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/1165615-microsoft-writes-off-900-million-on-surface-tablets/#findComment-595827067 Share on other sites More sharing options...
JasonMiles Posted July 21, 2013 Author Share Posted July 21, 2013 Never seen one used and never seen one in any shops, only advertising i've seen is some crazy dancing advertisement on TV which really didn't sell them at all. I'm sure it's a great device but without apps it's nothing.. The guy above says 'bring on RT2', if the app adoption rate is the same then it's not going to be an improvement at all.. Me either. Those advertisements look like advertisements from TAMPAX. You never get to see the tampons, just "happy" people dancing around and enjoying a better life. For whatever that means. :laugh: Link to comment https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/1165615-microsoft-writes-off-900-million-on-surface-tablets/#findComment-595829859 Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Anarkii Subscriber² Posted July 21, 2013 Subscriber² Share Posted July 21, 2013 Shops in Australia (at least where I live) don't stock them anymore. They just don't sell. They should refocus their efforts back to the desktop market, yeah not many people are buying desktops these days but to a large degree that is Microsoft's fault. Windows 8 and 8.1 are still focussed firmly at touch devices, and desktop owners are still banging their heads on the tables wanting that desktop focussed update.Did Microsoft forget that most of its Windows users are on desktop computers? Anyway, no real loss that the Surface tablets have bombed apart from the 900m they spent making them, which is also pocket change really. dvb2000 and ozgeek 2 Share Link to comment https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/1165615-microsoft-writes-off-900-million-on-surface-tablets/#findComment-595829871 Share on other sites More sharing options...
dvb2000 Posted July 21, 2013 Share Posted July 21, 2013 the company took an unexpected $900 million (?591m) charge for its inventory of unsold Surface tablets and THEY bagged all the PC makers for not producing hardware that "took advantage" of Windows 8 features. Karma is a bitch eh Microsoft. ozgeek 1 Share Link to comment https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/1165615-microsoft-writes-off-900-million-on-surface-tablets/#findComment-595829879 Share on other sites More sharing options...
david13lt Posted July 21, 2013 Share Posted July 21, 2013 I only saw it once, in Paris, some chinese tourist was using in youth hostel. I must say, the hardware looks amazing. The design on Type and Touch covers are amazing and probably makes a huge plus for buying Surface RT as that brings the productivity. Tegra 3 is definitely a slow silicon already and there is probably too little of memory. If they keep the size, make it 1080p, put Snapdragon 800 with LTE support and improve the camera capabilities while retaining the current price I will probably buy one. I haven't used Windows machine for a long time, the last 6 years I spend on OS X, Linux and Unix-like systems. The only thing I would need from Surface RT is email, browsing and SSH support to login to Linux and OS X machines cluster. All development I do is done on 24-core 64GB RAM machines, thus I don't need a powerful machine. I just need a machine which has a long battery life and connectivity, is light weight and ability to connect if emergencies occurs. Definitely want to see Surface RT 2 and if Microsoft cannot deliver better, then I am looking into other products (most likely not iPad). Link to comment https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/1165615-microsoft-writes-off-900-million-on-surface-tablets/#findComment-595829901 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dutchie64 Posted July 21, 2013 Share Posted July 21, 2013 Don't forget the development costs for both the RT and Pro will be extensive, but still 900 mill. is a lot of money.. The RT can stand it's own towards any other tablet, and the whole 'not enough apps' thingy is fading fast. The Pro (I have one myself) is one hell of a little machine. I can run all my desktop apps on there, and run a nice selection of Modern apps. The screen and digitizer are veru nice as well. But I don't see many in the wild over here, despite enough stores selling them. Maybe the pricedrop lately will help. MS needs to bring out new, faster version of both tablets. With the new Intel chips they can properly compete with Google and Apple imho. Link to comment https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/1165615-microsoft-writes-off-900-million-on-surface-tablets/#findComment-595829931 Share on other sites More sharing options...
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