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Microsoft Slashes Prices On Surface

Posted by timothy on from the prices-are-only-skin-deep dept.

McGruber writes "Thursday, The Verge broke the news that Microsoft was slashing the price of its tablets — the price of the 32-gig Surface RT plummeted by 42%! Staples, TigerDirect and many other retailers are already selling the tablets at the lowered prices. I wonder what Microsoft will do for customers who purchased a tablet right before the price drop?"

17 of 330 comments (clear)

  1. Price Adjustment by Oysterville · · Score: 5, Informative

    I doubt that Microsoft will do much of anything for those early adopters, but check with your place of purchase. Frequently they have a price guarantee that will cover price adjustments both at that store and with competitors.

    1. Re:Price Adjustment by Jeremiah+Cornelius · · Score: 5, Funny

      "I wonder what Microsoft will do for customers who purchased a tablet right before the price drop?"

      Salute them as 'early adopters' and congratulate them for getting in early to avoid the rush.

      --
      "Flyin' in just a sweet place,
      Never been known to fail..."
    2. Re:Price Adjustment by hairyfeet · · Score: 5, Informative

      Meh if you were dumb enough to buy one early? Sorry but you kinda deserved the wallet ding for failing to pay attention. Pretty much all of the media had already panned the thing, they were selling it for MORE than an iPad, the Surface had giant FAIL written all over it almost from the start so anybody with any common sense should have figured they'd either have to take a hell of a price drop or end up with a warehouse full of shit they couldn't sell. Folks forget that computer chips have a shelf life, if you don't move the units its soon badly outdated compared to what is on the market and nobody will buy it.

      Honestly I wouldn't even buy it at the current price, the tegra 3 was never that great a chip to start with and thanks to bad design on the part of MSFT the Surface can't even take advantage of the fifth core on the tegra 3 so the battery life will be worse than Android on it. Maybe if it hits below $145 it might be worth playing with, but considering we are talking about a company with a history of abandoning products that don't become hits (Zune, Sidekick,Kin,WinPhone 7) do you REALLY want to take the chance?

      Mark my words by xmas these things will either be on woot! at $100 or less like the Touchpad or they'll end up in a landfill somewhere, Anything to do with WinRT seems to be destined to fail, hence why nearly all the OEMs canceled their WinRT offerings.

      --
      ACs don't waste your time replying, your posts are never seen by me.
    3. Re:Price Adjustment by roc97007 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      > the Surface had giant FAIL written all over it almost from the start

      Well, the RT definitely did. I don't think it's clear yet whether the "Surface Pro" (or whatever they called it -- the one on Intel that actually runs Windows) is worthy of the FAIL sticker just yet.

      It's important to keep the RT (WinCE warmed over) and the Pro separate. They're distinct products. Although, I wonder whether the RT is dragging the Pro down with it.

      --
      Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
    4. Re:Price Adjustment by davester666 · · Score: 5, Funny

      What are you saying you heretic!

      Bill says that in order to do serious Enterprise work, you need a stylus, a keyboard and Microsoft Office. The Surface RT has all three [well, you need to spring for the keyboard and stylus, but oh, that satisfying 'click' when you attach the keyboard to the Surface]!

      And Bill knows!

      --
      Sleep your way to a whiter smile...date a dentist!
  2. Still overpriced by waddgodd · · Score: 5, Funny

    It's a first-gen hardware product from Microsoft, they should have to pay you for the headaches you're inevitably going to have

    --
    Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they aren't out to get you
  3. serious problem by phantomfive · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I wonder what Microsoft will do for customers who purchased a tablet right before the price drop?"

    Really, if those people joined together they might be able fill a Starbucks. Imagine if they started a protest against Microsoft, the damage they could do......

    Microsoft will do the same thing they did when they came out with the Zune to help all those people who bought "Plays For Sure" music, nothing at all.

    --
    "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
  4. What Microsoft will do about previous customers? by cold+fjord · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Cash the check.

    --
    much of left-wing thought is a kind of playing with fire by people who don't even know that fire is hot - George Orwell
  5. Re:Linux? by supersat · · Score: 5, Informative

    No. The bootloader is locked down, and since there are code signing requirements for apps, you can't even run a VM.

  6. Bad math by Dan+East · · Score: 5, Informative

    the price of the 32-gig Surface RT plummeted by 42%

    That's wrong - the price has been reduced by 30%. The new price of the 32 gig Surface is $349. The original price was $499 (the price of all models is being reduced by $150). You divide the discount by the original price, not the new reduced price, to find the percentage reduction. 150/499=30% (150/349 is indeed 42%, but that is meaningless in this case)

    --
    Better known as 318230.
  7. Cough.. HP Touchpad Cough... by maudface · · Score: 5, Insightful

    This remind people of anything much?

    Entirely unsurprising, good riddance.

  8. Re:They are in such demand by supersat · · Score: 5, Informative

    The only content you can create on the Surface are Office docs. And only personal content -- use of the included Office software for any organization (including non-profits) requires a separate, full Office license.

  9. Better idea - inform the consumer by Picass0 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Right now MS adverts for the surface are nothing more than hipster dipshits dancing on a boardroom table and spining the Surface around. There is nothing infomative, nothing to tell the consumer why they might consider purchasing this vs. an Ipad or a decent Android tablet.

    MS can't act like Apple. People already know why they might like to have an iPad. They either own one or have a fiend who does. Surface doesn't have familiarity to fall back on. It looks like an overgrown Zune and unless MS tells people otherwise they will assume it's just an "also ran" in the tablet race.

    Slashing prices it nice but it reaks of desperation. I might be tempted to think they are dumping existing inventory prior to dropping the product line.

    1. Re:Better idea - inform the consumer by jfruh · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Right now MS adverts for the surface are nothing more than hipster dipshits dancing on a boardroom table and spining the Surface around ... MS can't act like Apple.

      iPad and iPhone ads are actually pretty good about showing you in succinct ways what you can do with the product. They're usually made up of quick, targeted clips of apps in use. It's kind of flabbergasted me that Microsoft hasn't done the same thing with their TV ads, especially when it comes to Office. It's almost as if their marketing dept. came to the conclusion that "We have to fight Apple on their own terms" without actually sitting down to watch how Apple markets its products.

  10. Re:They are in such demand by Dupple · · Score: 5, Insightful

    While it's quite possible to 'create' and do 'useful work' on a tablet it certainly seems more geared towards consumption. What Microsoft hasn't understood is that people use their software because they have to at work.

    Office is not compelling. IE is not compelling. This is Microsofts attempt to move their monopoly to a new computing sector. It won't work. People don't want to use their software.

    --
    Watch those corners
  11. How about a free brown Zune? by dottrap · · Score: 5, Funny

    "I wonder what Microsoft will do for customers who purchased a tablet right before the price drop?"

    Microsoft has great products they can use to compensate those early adopters.

    How about a brown Zune?
    (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zune#Sales)

    Or maybe a WebTV?
    (http://slashdot.org/story/13/07/07/1224244/microsoft-says-goodbye-to-webtvmsn-tv)

    Well Zune Pass has got to work (ForSure)!

  12. Microsoft wants to be Apple by readingaccount · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Microsoft desperately wants to be Apple, that much should be obvious by now. With all the dancing hipster ads for Surface trying to appear cool and in touch, it just... doesn't... work.

    Microsoft still has something of a business/corporate reputation. They make operating systems to run Office on, to perform spreadsheet work, boring but necessary work. That's their image. Apple deliberately target non-business customers in the vast majority of their products and marketing - they have for a while now and that is THEIR image. Microsoft can't just try to perform a 180 and appear like Apple - that's like a 50 year old Steve Buscemi trying to act hip to young people by saying "How do you do, fellow kids?" It's comedic when done by an actor - but embarrassing when done by a corporation.

    They say a business must grow or die. Microsoft have reached the limits of desktop operating systems - they've owned their sector for so long that they can't grow in it. That's fine, go for it. But emulating Apple when there already IS an Apple is not a strategy for a leader to take.