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News Microsoft dramatically cuts Surface RT pricing

Discussion in 'Article Discussion' started by Gareth Halfacree, 16 Jul 2013.

  1. Gareth Halfacree

    Gareth Halfacree WIIGII! Lover of bit-tech Administrator Super Moderator Moderator

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  2. mi1ez

    mi1ez Modder

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    Still too expensive. IMO.
     
  3. Cei

    Cei pew pew pew

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  4. Gareth Halfacree

    Gareth Halfacree WIIGII! Lover of bit-tech Administrator Super Moderator Moderator

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    It'd be worth it if you got the Touch Cover for free, I reckon - but having to pay another £100 on top for that when it's one of the only USPs the device has is a bit rich.
     
  5. Stanley Tweedle

    Stanley Tweedle NO VR NO PLAY

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    Microsoft will learn a hard lesson eventually. For decades they've been over-pricing their windows OS. £198 is the retail for win 8 pro. I bought it when it came down to a reasonable £24.99. That's still more expensive than OSX. Now microsoft are playing alongside apple and other tablet makers they will find their inflated pricing strategy hits them much harder.
     
  6. FullThrottleRic

    FullThrottleRic What's a Dremel?

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    "has a serious drawback when compared to its parent operating system Windows 8: it provides no access to the classic desktop user interface"

    Have you ever even used RT?! The UI is exactly the same as the x86 version, in fact the whole OS as far as the end user is concerned behaves exactly the same. The only proviso is that you can only install software from the windows store, which is no different from iOS.
     
  7. rollo

    rollo Modder

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    Its major drawback is lack of x86 applications thats the surface rts problem and its why we will likely not see a second version of it ( + a few other issues lack of Advertisement, Lack of Apps on launch enough thats now fixed, Too pricey touch cover). That along with the total lack of sales that it has had will make sure this is the end of the Surface RT.

    The Surface Pro has sold more than ( more than double if sales estimates are accurate) the Surface RT at double the price that alone will show Microsoft what people want to buy. Thats basically just in USA and Canada as the UK launch has been poor.
     
  8. Stanley Tweedle

    Stanley Tweedle NO VR NO PLAY

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    It seems like a seriously idiotic move making the "cheaper" surface non-x86. One thing Microsoft have in their favour (an advantage over their competitors) is a massive software base.. But they decided that wasn't important and they would create a new library of software post launch.
     
  9. Cei

    Cei pew pew pew

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    Personally, they should stop trying to compete with Apple with the RT and concentrate solely upon the Pro, which actually offers more of what people want.
     
  10. Niftyrat

    Niftyrat Dremel overpriced like EA games

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    I am greedy looking to replace my release weekend 1st gen iPad. RT offers me nothing even at that price point at £99 I might have been tempted but i either will have a new iPad as that requires no messing around and I can use my existing apps or a full surface pro as that will allow me to do more on it.
     
  11. Stanley Tweedle

    Stanley Tweedle NO VR NO PLAY

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    Remind me of how much the pro costs again? Is it competitively priced? How is it on power consumption?

    My iPad 4th gen cost me £360 direct from Apple laser etched with "iPad kicks google nexus butt" (it was a joke, I dunt really have anything against nexus, it's just that I need the iPad for the music making apps).
     
  12. rollo

    rollo Modder

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    Surface pro has no tablet competition so its priced nice from my pov. Does not do brilliant on battery better than some worse than others.

    Only reason I don't own one was the shoddy release in the uk.
     
  13. Nexxo

    Nexxo * Prefab Sprout – The King of Rock 'n' Roll

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    Actually a second version is already in the prototype stage.

    But to correct people on the crazy sales figures that are flying about:

    Surface RT units shipped: 2,000,000
    Surface RT units sold: 900,000
    Other Windows RT units sold: 200,000
    Surface Pro units sold: 450,000

    Google Chromebooks sold: 600,000
    Nexus 10 tablets sold: 600,000
     
  14. Corky42

    Corky42 Where's walle?

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    So does that mean when the new version comes out and they still have around 1,000,000 left, that we can all get a free Surface RT ;)
     
  15. Cei

    Cei pew pew pew

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    Source?
     
  16. Nexxo

    Nexxo * Prefab Sprout – The King of Rock 'n' Roll

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    You can either assume that I make stuff up as I go along, or you can Google it yourself. ;)
     
  17. Cei

    Cei pew pew pew

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    It's just that my Googling says otherwise.

    The IDC, in May, said that as shipments of its Surface RT and Surface Pro tablets combined for a total of nearly 900,000 units. Many of those units were Surface Pro, which the company started shipping to the U.S. and Canada in February. Microsoft has said that it is actively widening its regional distribution of both Surface RT and Surface Pro products. Beyond the Surface products, Windows 8 and Windows RT tablets continued to struggle to gain traction in the market. Total combined Windows 8 and Windows RT shipments across all vendors reached 1.8 million units.

    So that's actually "nearly" 900,000 units of RT and Pro combined, with Pro outselling RT, by the end of Q1. Even if you're optimistic and double that for Q2 (noting that we've had a contraction in sales), you reach 1.8m units of RT and Pro combined. You, however, seem to have come up with a total of 2m RT units alone.


    EDIT:
    Apparently the split for actual sales (rather than shipped) of that 900,000 was 200,000 for RT.
     
    Last edited: 16 Jul 2013
  18. fdbh96

    fdbh96 What's a Dremel?

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    Apple includes OS price in the hardware. MS can't do this as they don't sell hardware, at least not very well :D

    Also, very few people buy a retail copy of windows, as it mostly comes with their computer and the upgrade prices are cheaper.
     
  19. RedFlames

    RedFlames ...is not a Belgian football team

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    Most people don't even bother with upgrading, they just use whichever OS it comes with... Even amongst Mac users uptake of upgrade versions is relatively low... [and even at £14, i know plenty of people who pirated Mountain Lion]
     
  20. Snips

    Snips I can do dat, giz a job

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    Trust me, at this price SurfaceRT is a bargain. The x86 software issue is very minimal when used as it's intended, a tablet. With Office 2013 thrown in, for business it's even better. They're countless things you can use RT for that iOS or Droid can't do yet. I've used all 3 extensively and I find RT easier, faster and an all round smoother experience without the need to "app" everything.
     

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