iSuppli: Microsoft Surface sales well below shipments

According to IHS iSuppli, Microsoft Surface sales were well below the 1 million mark.

Additionally, the tablet saw a large amount of returns.

Shipments for the Surface RT, which runs on a neutered version of Windows, were about 1.25 million for the quarter, but actual sales to consumers were much lower, "maybe on the order of 55 to 60 percent of that figure," added Rhoda Alexander, an analyst at iSuppli.

While the sales percentage is roughly in-line with other devices, especially new Android tablets, Microsoft can not be happy with the poor "sales out" percentage. Market leader Apple has a 97 percent "sales out" figure for its iPad and iPad Mini.

Apple sold 22.9 million iPads in the last quarter, easily pacing the tablet market.

The biggest problem, however, was the high return rate, says iSuppli. "The return rate was very high," Alexander said. "If you put the high return rate together with low sell-through [sales out] rate, that's indicative of a problem." When asked to put a reason behind the high returns, Alexander said, "It seems to be linked in a lot of cases to a steep learning curve of the [Windows 8] OS -- which is not necessarily intuitive."

Microsoft hopes to move ahead in the tablet market with its Windows 8 Pro-based Surface Pro tablet, which has full access to all legacy Windows apps, and has larger internal storage and a higher-resolution display.

Written by: Andre Yoskowitz @ 31 Jan 2013 22:27

PraisesToAllah

Quote:Additionally, the tablet saw a large amount of returns. Lol. I guess people realized how worthless it really is.

1.2.2013 01:02 #1

KSib

Well, the average user probably didn't want to deal with the UI that some techies seem to not understand how much of a curve it can be. That, on top of not being able to run their Windows XP, Vista, or 7 applications could easily be a deal breaker for most.

1.2.2013 01:21 #2

snaketus

It's just ridiculously expensive!

1.2.2013 01:56 #3

KillerBug

People see it is more expensive than a windows laptop and assume it has windows like a laptop, not some crummy phone OS. If there was a new android tablet that wouldn't run old android apps then the returns would be just as high.

1.2.2013 02:19 #4

Bozobub

Anyone who doesn't think the the Surface RT is a silly, overpriced joke is either ignorant or certifiably insane. Never mind the problems with a real implementation of Win8 in the Pro, the bullshit implementation in the RT is just a sad, sad joke.

No, M$, no one gives a crap about Metro, and certainly no one cares to (re)buy all of their software from the Windows Marketplace.

The high return rate for the RT is exactly what I expected, once people realized its limitations.

1.2.2013 08:17 #5

SomeBozo

I have to admit, it sure seems M$ sure name it well? On the $urface it looks good, but in reality, it is yet another hopeful piece of crap M$ is trying to push.

Whatever happened to the day that M$ putting out decent stuff? Oh ya, before Steve Balder, Sure seems to me most of the operating systems and other products M$ is putting out, well let's just say it sure seems Steve is giving the company a good scalping?

1.2.2013 09:38 #6

KillerBug

Originally posted by SomeBozo: I have to admit, it sure seems M$ sure name it well? On the $urface it looks good, but in reality, it is yet another hopeful piece of crap M$ is trying to push.

Whatever happened to the day that M$ putting out decent stuff? Oh ya, before Steve Balder, Sure seems to me most of the operating systems and other products M$ is putting out, well let's just say it sure seems Steve is giving the company a good scalping? I may be dating myself a little bit...but the old days of Microsoft were not all wonderful. Yes, DOS was a good OS for the day (stolen from someone else, but still, sold by MS)...and 2000, XP, and 7 were all at least functional if tweeked correctly and restarted enough...but that leaves 3.1, 95, 95OSR2, 98, 98SE, ME, and Vista...I ignore NT before 2000 because it was pretty useless outside of a corporate environment that would have been served much better by *nix.

While I don't like Windows 8 Pro (it forces power users to do more to do the same, and it blocks the rest from doing the same), I think the real problem is the naming structure. "Windows Mobile" and "Windows Phone" described the product in a way that let people know it would not run their collection of existing software. "Windows 8 RT" only conveys this to those who are already informed on the matter. It seems like Microsoft is trying to trick people into buying these in the hope they will be too lazy to return them.

1.2.2013 17:23 #7

ddp

killer, microsoft did not steal dos as they did buy it from another individual or company who had it but ms just added to it. if not for a certain lady, bill gates & company would not be where they are now.

1.2.2013 17:35 #8

Interestx

Strange, tablet prices seemed to be in free-fall just before x-mas but look firmer now.

1.2.2013 19:37 #9

dEwMe

Just was priced too high for me even to want to give it a chance.

Just my $0.02,

dEwMe

4.2.2013 14:20 #10

SomeBozo

Originally posted by KillerBug: Originally posted by SomeBozo: I have to admit, it sure seems M$ sure name it well? On the $urface it looks good, but in reality, it is yet another hopeful piece of crap M$ is trying to push.

Whatever happened to the day that M$ putting out decent stuff? Oh ya, before Steve Balder, Sure seems to me most of the operating systems and other products M$ is putting out, well let's just say it sure seems Steve is giving the company a good scalping? I may be dating myself a little bit...but the old days of Microsoft were not all wonderful. Yes, DOS was a good OS for the day (stolen from someone else, but still, sold by MS)...and 2000, XP, and 7 were all at least functional if tweeked correctly and restarted enough...but that leaves 3.1, 95, 95OSR2, 98, 98SE, ME, and Vista...I ignore NT before 2000 because it was pretty useless outside of a corporate environment that would have been served much better by *nix.

While I don't like Windows 8 Pro (it forces power users to do more to do the same, and it blocks the rest from doing the same), I think the real problem is the naming structure. "Windows Mobile" and "Windows Phone" described the product in a way that let people know it would not run their collection of existing software. "Windows 8 RT" only conveys this to those who are already informed on the matter. It seems like Microsoft is trying to trick people into buying these in the hope they will be too lazy to return them. Ya i'm dating my self too, a person that helped me learn programming and mentored me worked for the company that sold MS-DOS to Bi11g...

But what really make me response to you :) HAHAHA... Possibly they did name Windows RT correctly...? Huh? How about Windows Real Trash?

5.2.2013 00:08 #11

ddp

works for me or "Really Terrible".

5.2.2013 11:16 #12

Bozobub

Heh.

Again, I predicted a lot of returns, when people realized exactly what RT was (or wasn't). The only truly compelling feature of ANY Windows OS, to date, is the ability to run any programs you like, new or old, written for Windows in general; you can still run many Win95 programs in Win7, for example. RT flushes that all down the toilet.

Take that away, and you've bundled up a lot of the problems with Windows, without the payoff. Ugh.

5.2.2013 12:48 #13

ChappyTTV

I have no idea what the deal was with RT? I mean, what the F*** does MS think anyone would want with a piece of garbage OS that you can't run any Windows programs on?
And why would anyone even want it is another question, I'm surprised they sold more than 10 really. I guess it was mostly to people who had no idea what RT was, hence the high return rate.
Sales of the Surface with full Windows would probably have been another story if not for this RT crap, but we'll see if this disaster with RT hits MS sales in that area too. Looks like I'll be on W7 for a long time to come.

8.2.2013 20:15 #14

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