Surface 3 Stocks Dwindling As Microsoft Plans System's Demise (arstechnica.com)

An anonymous reader writes: Microsoft's Surface 3 may be coming to an end. Brad Sams at Thurrott.com reports that many versions of the Surface 3 are listed as being out of stock in Microsoft's online store, with no expected availability. He notes that the only version in stock online is the version with 2GB RAM/64GB storage/LTE. There's more availability in-store, but stock appears to be limited overall. What this generally means is that manufacturing is slowing down or going to stop entirely. In a statement, Microsoft said: "Since launching Surface 3 over a year ago, we have seen strong demand and satisfaction amongst our customers. Inventory is now limited and by the end of December 2016, we will no longer manufacture Surface 3 devices." It's possible a Surface 3 successor is right around the corner, although Ars Technica notes "there hasn't even been the merest hint of a rumor about such a device." The Surface 3 is being powered by a Cherry Trail Atom processor, which hasn't seen a major upgrade or replacement since they were released in the first quarter of 2015. "Without new processors, there's little reason to update the Surface 3 line," writes Ars. Microsoft could equip the Surface 3 successor with a Core M processor, but the implications of that decision would likely cause the device's price to shoot up or cause the device's quality to significantly decrease. Microsoft may simply abandon the segment entirely and focus strictly on the Surface Pro line.

Comments

Can it really be that bad?

[Anonymous Coward]

It seems like anything outside of their stranglehold through lock-in (Windows, Office) fails. Honestly, I don't mean this as a troll. But everything from Zune to the Windows phone to this tablet to Bing turns into a flop, or sensationally mediocre. With the possible exception of the Xbox but isn't that because they refuse to stop throwing money at it? (pleading ignorance on that one)

Putting Apple fanboism aside, how is it that Microsoft can fail so consistently with so many products yet Apple seems to fail with so few?

Then they have the hutzpah to pull the Windows 10 telemetry and forced upgrades stuff, both of which should have been handled with some simple, competent PR. Is it so fractured internally that no one person sees these problems as obvious and says "hey, wait a second, we need to think this through"?

And marketing/image...from sweaty Ballmer to the Linux flip-flop to angry cheerleaders ads to the Surface getting called an iPad on national tv, on and on...what are the odds of being a laughing stock consistently for so many years, yet no one takes control and puts a stop to it?

I don't get it, please enlighten.

Re:Can it really be that bad?

[lucm]

We hear that over and over, but Microsoft is actually making money with Xbox. And Minecraft. And Skype. They make money in the cloud business (unlike Amazon who pours money from their retail business to keep AWS afloat).

They even made money with Yahoo, something few companies can brag about (including Yahoo).

Microsoft has been profitable every single year since 1985. That's the bottom line. There will always be people to make clever comments about the Zune and Nokia, but taking a dive for a few quarters or years is a strategy that paid off in many cases. If you start looking at how much money individual product lines made or lost at Microsoft, you're missing the point. Multiple streams of revenue, that's how you stay in business while other companies boom and bust.

They're not sexy, they're not cool, but they make money, they pay their employees well, and they give a decent dividend to their shareholders. That's a sound business in my book, and 10 years from now I'll still hold on to my MSFT stock while today's cool companies will be as relevant as Nortel or Blackberry.

Re:Getting Ready for Apollo Lake Upgrade

[PCM2]

Intel is expected to release Apollo Lake (Cherry Trail's successor) in the 2nd half of 2016.

But if Microsoft was planning to use that chip for a new Surface, it wouldn't EOL the current version now, because it won't be able to get new product into the market until the first half of next year. Companies don't just put brands into temporary retirement for 6-8 months while they wait for their downstream supply chains to catch up.