Slash A THIRD off Surface RT price or it's toast, Microsoft told
And actually sell it through the shops - who are you? Apple?
Microsoft needs to hack a third off Surface RT prices and widen distribution to give the fondleslab a fighting chance to compete, said equities analyst Detwiler Fenton Group (DFG).
The ARM-powered device isn't winning many friends apart from the software giant's rank and file. Only last week the firm was reported to have halved production orders with Surface makers in the Far East.
Now Boston market research biz DFG has issued a note claiming "sales on Microsoft's Surface RT tablet continue to disappoint". It expected the Windows 8 titan to ship roughly one to two million RT laptop-cum-tablets in calendar Q4 2012, but adjusted expectations dramatically to between 500,000 and 600,000 units.
"This combined with Microsoft's inability to launch Surface Pro tablets in volume in Q4 suggests that Microsoft's tablet strategy is in disarray," stated DFG.
Microsoft has yet to confirm when Surface Pro will ship but hinted it would be about three months after RT, aiming the launch for January.
DFG stopped short of describing Microsoft's handling of the gear as a failure because "improved hardware and distribution as well as an ageing laptop fleet in Western Europe should boost prospects in 2013".
Back in the summer when Microsoft revealed the device's blueprints, CEO Steve Ballmer disappointed distribution channel partners by selling the tech direct from Microsoft's own US stores and microsoft.com.
DFG said mixed reviews and the $599 starting price were putting off customers, but the major issue has been its go-to-market strategy.
"Lack of distribution is killing the product," the equity analyst stated, "[lack] of retail exposure at Best Buy and others is severely depressing sales."
DFG director for technology research Mark Gerber told The Channel that Microsoft needs to hack $200 off the retail price.
"The Surface RT price need to come down: $399 with the keyboard would be a good starting price," he said.
He also expects Microsoft to change direction and bring on board the distribution channel, "if for no other reasons than to clear inventory".
Channel partners have been "clamouring" to get hold of a Surface device, James Akrigg, Microsoft's head of technology for partners, told us.
"The current plan is to sell it through the stores that are in the States and the online store. I'm sure we've had a lot of feedback about alternative ways of getting that to market but I've not seen any announcement regarding how that might change." ®
COMMENTS
Re: Said it before and I'll say it again
but people generally discover they don't really want an iPad either after the newness and marketing spiel wares off.
Personally, I think if tablets survive in the future, it will be the cheap tablets that lead the way. The keyboard and mouse works for a reason.
Re: Said it before and I'll say it again
Nexus 10 sales say hi...
Android now has 45% of the market (or closer I suspect to 55% if you count non-Google devices like the KIndle Fire and chinese knockoffs)..
Just like smartphone OS is a two horse race, so now is the tablet... iOS or Android, that's all you need to develop for, and that's all consumers want.
No body wants it now, why would then with a 3rd off/
Given that a 64gb rimjob playbook can be had for £199, the market for "other" tablets is limited.
Googles got the low end sewn up with the Nexus 7. Apple and Samsung the higher end.
The old adage if you're releasing into a crowded market, it better be twice as good, or half the price applies.
Surface isn't either...
Anybody know what Surface does?
All I saw on the adverts is keyboards being plugged in and out and icons being spun.
come on, pull the other one...
"Channel partners have been "clamouring" to get hold of a Surface device, James Akrigg, Microsoft's head of technology for partners, told us."
Rubbish, no one wants it...
