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If it were any company but Microsoft relying on the success of the Surface RT tablet, they’d probably be out of business by the end of the year.
In early March Microsoft made known their plans to expand worldwide with the Surface RT tablet. At that time Microsoft made known their intentions to expand into a number of countries with their latest RT tablet. Countries including, “Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Russia, Singapore and Taiwan and Surface Pro with Windows 8 Pro to Australia, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, New Zealand and the United Kingdom”.
In mid March the Surface RT went on sale in Japan and New Zealand. Today Microsoft confirmed that they would begin selling the Surface RT in Singapore, beginning April 5, 2013.
According to CNET the Microsoft Windows Surface RT will be available starting at $668 at Challenger stores. Microsoft’s premium tablet, the Surface Pro is still not selling there as of yet though. Microsoft’s decision to focus on the Surface RT rather than the Pro is a move that can be considered odd when you consider the idea that the Surface Pro might actually be a more enticing buy for people looking to stick with Microsoft software and purchase a tablet at the same time. It doesn’t surprise me though. In fact such seemingly poor marketing strategies appear to be plaguing Microsoft these days, as somewhat covered in our article, “Microsoft Chooses To Skip Attending CES 2013 And Samsung Decides To Skip On Selling Microsoft”
Microsoft is seriously struggling with their RT product and perhaps the following should be considered when thinking about just how poorly it’s really doing in the tablet market. Here are some recent facts gathered by Addduplex that sort of sum up the Windows Surface RT/Pro situation at the moment:
* When it comes to Windows 8/RT devices worldwide, even now – “Surface RT share shrinking a little”
* When it comes to the Surface RT vs the Surface Pro, the Pro sells better though it may be due to – “limited supply”
* When it comes to Surface RT devices in the U.S. – “Surface RT lost some ground”
* When it comes to the top manufactures in the United States – “Microsoft has slipped to number 4 (was 3)”
I could go on but it’s clear that the Surface RT tablet is having trouble penetrating the mobile market and certainly not for one, but a number of reasons (i.e. customer misunderstanding of the product, weak ecosystem of apps, high price point when compared to other tablets on the market that perform equally as well and have a better ecosystem – just to name a few.) If I lay it on the line and let opinions fly, I’m more than willing to say that if Microsoft were were any other company than who they are, and they relied as heavily as Microsoft is on the Surface RT’s success, they’d probably be out of business by the end of this year. With companies such as Samsung dropping not models of the Surface RT tablet but dropping the entire Windows RT operating system in certain countries, it’s a sure indicator that something is not quite right with this latest Microsoft first tablet offering – the Surface RT.
