News Microsoft details major Surface RT write-down

And people still think Microsoft will make a second surface rt. After this report be alot of people in the company wondering if that's a good idea. $900 million write down is higher than the blackberry playbook. Which suffered similar issues. ( that's about 1mil + surface rts unsold)

Moral of the story does not matter one iota how good we think the product is if it does not sell to joe public then its DOA.

 

Wow, that's like 5-6 million unsold units... Huge misjudgment for the demand of these things.

 

I'm no accountant so maybe someone can explain something
According to http://www.microsoft.com/investor/EarningsAndFinancials/Earnings/PressReleaseAndWebcast/FY13/Q4/default.aspx

Why does the Generally Accepted Accounting Principles or simply GAAP change a 5% growth into a 1% loss

 

Might've sold better if it came with Atom instead of Tegra 3. The draw of Windows 8 vs RT is that the former gives you a full Windows machine for using desktop apps.

 

Might've sold better if it was not sold only in US for first few months, then only few markets after that. They still don't sell Surface RT nor Surface Pro in whole EU.

 

If it had come with Atom then it wouldn't be windows RT.

So basically you're saying they would have sold more tablets if they hadn't of released Windows RT at all?

I tend to agree.

People buy iPads because they want iPads. People buy Macs because they want macs. People buy windows machines because they want to run windows software.

If it's a windows machine that won't run windows software (that's how people see it) then of course it's a big ol' bucket of fail.

 

Its called creative accounting one o one how to make things look better than they really are. Not the only company that does it. Fact they still made decent profits makes me question why they have done it in the first place.

 

Haha exactly what I was thinking. Though when you think about it, what would you do if you encountered a program that needed right-clicking, or the extra instructions of x86? A 2-finger tap wouldn't work because of how inaccurate that would be. I don't blame MS for not even attempting to add an x86 compatibility layer, but it sure hurt them. Also, I heard the first Surface RT models were physically faulty, which probably didn't help.

 

To be honest, they realized the RT mistake and that is why we got the 8" Acer 1280x800 Windows 8 tablet (Acer W3)... Too bad Acer screwed up with the bad TN display, but they are bringing a version with better display soon. 8" 1280x800, Atom, 2GB, 64GB SSD Windows 8 tablet for 380€, why not, just that display needs to be IPS instead of TN.

 

You aint kidding, I still don't have a clue what they mean when they say non-GAAP. Hell i don't even know what GAAP is
I guess its the same kind of creative accounting company's use to dodge thier tax's

 

It would have sold better if it was Android or had Windows 7.. and Tegra 4.

 

No andriod tablet has been a steller success, Remove the nexus line which is sold at cost anyway. And name another andriod tablet that has made its maker real profits. ( Asus e pad thing at a push assuming its sales are what have been rumoured. )

No one on andriod will give you a real sales figure for anything to do with its tablet range. They will happily give you shipped numbers, Microsoft did that 3 months later they write down a $900 mil stock loss.

I may be wrong but I think amazon is the top selling andriod tablet and its not even officially andriod.

Tegra 4 was not made when the surface rt was released so how could of it of had it? Theres also been windows 7 tablets that have not sold.

People just need to face facts and what ive said for a long time there is no real tablet market. Apple makes the profits selling a device to bundle with its Iphone range. Id love to see how many people buying a Apple tablet do not own a Iphone as it will be shockingly low figure id imagine.

We can add the Surface RT to the Blackberry playbook and a million other andriod tablets that have been made ( feels like a million lol) as Dead. NEXT

 

I disagree. While I personally don't like tablets, there is a market for them. People like them because they do what the average person wants while being very cheap and intuitive. ARM is doing decently well because of tablets, and PC sales are doing terrible because of tablets. People aren't finding the need to replace their computers anymore (due to Windows 7 not sucking and modern processors are barely being pushed for everyday tasks), but tablets are taking away sales from laptops, probably because laptop technology has always been mediocre; tablets live longer and generally perform better than laptops for the average person's tasks.

 

@rollo: Apple is selling 20 millions iPads per quarter, Samsung is selling 8 millions Galaxy Tabs per quarter. Sure, they contain all variants, but i am sure Samsung is doing pretty fine too. Btw Nexus 7 is sold at cost only at few countries where Google Play store exists. Elsewhere they are sold by Asus at profit. Same for Nexus 4 - initially it was sold for 450-500€, only lately it dropped to the current 330-350€ price.

 

I bought my Nexus 4 for £239, which is around 280€

 

In markets where Google Play store is present ? Sure. Elsewhere ? Good luck (outside of the fact that first batches arrived to Central Europe sometime around March i think) :
http://hexus.net/mobile/news/android/47638-lg-nexus-4-pricing-disparity-riles-european-retailers/

 

So when can we expect to see these selling for peanuts then?

 

Looks like the markets didn't like Microsoft latest financial statement.
http://www.hindustantimes.com/technology/Market-Updates/Microsoft-shares-hit-by-biggest-sell-off-since-2009/SP-Article1-1095418.aspx

Maybe Gates is starting to regret leaving Ballam in charge, as he lost $1.6 billion yesterday
http://newlaunches.com/archives/bill-gates-lost-1-6-billion-yesterday.php