Microsoft: Yeah, we built way too many Surface RTs, Windows not selling too great either

Speaking at an internal town hall event, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer admitted that the company built way too many Surface RT tablets, and that the company is not selling as many Windows devices as it would like to.

Ballmer, alongside COO Kevin Turner, spoke about the company's recent $900 million writedown due to excess Surface RT units and also discussed the company's focus on getting Facebook's Instagram on the Windows Phone platform.

Microsoft recently slashed the price of the Surface RT by 30 percent across the board, in an effort to move inventory. "We built a few more devices than we could sell," admitted Ballmer (via Verge).

Ballmer also confirmed the next-generation Surface tablets, without giving away any details. The new tablet is expected to be a minor update, but with improved specs, including a Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 CPU.

Moving to Windows (tablets, smartphones and PCs), Ballmer also confirmed "we're not selling as many Windows devices as we want to."

Written by: Andre Yoskowitz @ 27 Jul 2013 22:22

SomeBozo

Is M$ finally getting the hint? The future is not going to be PC dominated, Linux, windows, or whatever other OS platform. I would argue unless you're and IT professional needing to write programs, or an office worker doing spreadsheets, documents or other things needed for "business" type of processing, lets face it, the PC for home users is gone.

I would argue this is the trend and won't change much, even if Win8n't so great is updated, polished or modified to appeal to users for touch screens. I would also argue the updates from Win7 to 8 provided no compelling reason for users to upgrade. And the touch features, G00g1e to find how many people actually would like to turn off touch altogether. And software developers, how many want to give away 30% only because a web site is provided. Not to forget about the taxes the developer will still need to pay, reducing their profits more.

Is M$, considering they are suppose to have all the best and brightest minds in the world actually this dumb and slow to realized all of this? Punch cards, Hayes/audio modems, phone modems are for the most part completely gone as computers, technology and the market have all progressed. Why would a M$ think the PC will not fall into this as well. I can't help but think of a person 50 years ago think phonographs would always be here.

28.7.2013 01:10 #1

molsen

I think ms has over stepped their bounds again. It is about user experience. Android and iOS has shown it has a great user experience and Eco system of apps to support it. Ms has too much going on, how can a developer make money from the various hoops ms puts one through. Once again ms jumps the gun. They should have copied google and apple.

28.7.2013 21:21 #2

joebloe12

Originally posted by SomeBozo: Is M$ finally getting the hint? The future is not going to be PC dominated, Linux, windows, or whatever other OS platform. I would argue unless you're and IT professional needing to write programs, or an office worker doing spreadsheets, documents or other things needed for "business" type of processing, lets face it, the PC for home users is gone.

I would argue this is the trend and won't change much, even if Win8n't so great is updated, polished or modified to appeal to users for touch screens. I would also argue the updates from Win7 to 8 provided no compelling reason for users to upgrade. And the touch features, G00g1e to find how many people actually would like to turn off touch altogether. And software developers, how many want to give away 30% only because a web site is provided. Not to forget about the taxes the developer will still need to pay, reducing their profits more.

Is M$, considering they are suppose to have all the best and brightest minds in the world actually this dumb and slow to realized all of this? Punch cards, Hayes/audio modems, phone modems are for the most part completely gone as computers, technology and the market have all progressed. Why would a M$ think the PC will not fall into this as well. I can't help but think of a person 50 years ago think phonographs would always be here.

Sorry, but I think you saying THIS: "lets face it, the PC for home users is gone."

Is completely stupid!

Tell me exactly HOW are you going to play a game like GTA V or COD on a tablet?

I simply do not think PC is "gone" as I have yet to see PROOF of this!

Yes, mobile computing is becoming more popular, but a tablet or mobile phone cannot...REPEAT CANNOT replace the graphics you can have with PC's they simply can't!

So while people like you may be shouting the death of the PC...I do not see proof of that.

29.7.2013 04:11 #3

hearme0

Originally posted by joebloe12: Originally posted by SomeBozo: Is M$ finally getting the hint? The future is not going to be PC dominated, Linux, windows, or whatever other OS platform. I would argue unless you're and IT professional needing to write programs, or an office worker doing spreadsheets, documents or other things needed for "business" type of processing, lets face it, the PC for home users is gone.

I would argue this is the trend and won't change much, even if Win8n't so great is updated, polished or modified to appeal to users for touch screens. I would also argue the updates from Win7 to 8 provided no compelling reason for users to upgrade. And the touch features, G00g1e to find how many people actually would like to turn off touch altogether. And software developers, how many want to give away 30% only because a web site is provided. Not to forget about the taxes the developer will still need to pay, reducing their profits more.

Is M$, considering they are suppose to have all the best and brightest minds in the world actually this dumb and slow to realized all of this? Punch cards, Hayes/audio modems, phone modems are for the most part completely gone as computers, technology and the market have all progressed. Why would a M$ think the PC will not fall into this as well. I can't help but think of a person 50 years ago think phonographs would always be here.

Sorry, but I think you saying THIS: "lets face it, the PC for home users is gone."

Is completely stupid!

Tell me exactly HOW are you going to play a game like GTA V or COD on a tablet?

I simply do not think PC is "gone" as I have yet to see PROOF of this!

Yes, mobile computing is becoming more popular, but a tablet or mobile phone cannot...REPEAT CANNOT replace the graphics you can have with PC's they simply can't!

So while people like you may be shouting the death of the PC...I do not see proof of that.
AGREED!

That meritless and completely un-thought statement just pains me as it's how many "think" (if you wanna actually call it "thinking")

The PC is the REFERENCE for computing, gaming, platforms, etc..........PERIOD

Must be a dumb kid or dumb young and naive adult that posted that lame statement.

29.7.2013 15:46 #4

SomeBozo

Originally posted by hearme0: Originally posted by joebloe12: Originally posted by SomeBozo: Is M$ finally getting the hint? The future is not going to be PC dominated, Linux, windows, or whatever other OS platform. I would argue unless you're and IT professional needing to write programs, or an office worker doing spreadsheets, documents or other things needed for "business" type of processing, lets face it, the PC for home users is gone.

I would argue this is the trend and won't change much, even if Win8n't so great is updated, polished or modified to appeal to users for touch screens. I would also argue the updates from Win7 to 8 provided no compelling reason for users to upgrade. And the touch features, G00g1e to find how many people actually would like to turn off touch altogether. And software developers, how many want to give away 30% only because a web site is provided. Not to forget about the taxes the developer will still need to pay, reducing their profits more.

Is M$, considering they are suppose to have all the best and brightest minds in the world actually this dumb and slow to realized all of this? Punch cards, Hayes/audio modems, phone modems are for the most part completely gone as computers, technology and the market have all progressed. Why would a M$ think the PC will not fall into this as well. I can't help but think of a person 50 years ago think phonographs would always be here.

Sorry, but I think you saying THIS: "lets face it, the PC for home users is gone."

Is completely stupid!

Tell me exactly HOW are you going to play a game like GTA V or COD on a tablet?

I simply do not think PC is "gone" as I have yet to see PROOF of this!

Yes, mobile computing is becoming more popular, but a tablet or mobile phone cannot...REPEAT CANNOT replace the graphics you can have with PC's they simply can't!

So while people like you may be shouting the death of the PC...I do not see proof of that.
AGREED!

That meritless and completely un-thought statement just pains me as it's how many "think" (if you wanna actually call it "thinking")

The PC is the REFERENCE for computing, gaming, platforms, etc..........PERIOD

Must be a dumb kid or dumb young and naive adult that posted that lame statement. I assure you if you using windows you are running code i've worked on, and I've been around working on PC's since the early 80's. Gamers might drive higher end graphic boards and sure they'd need a PC, but as much as I don't care for them consoles are sure making inroads. Trust me i'm more a PC gamer, but a lot more money is made on console games, and developers will develop for the money.

Look at the trends, PC sales are going down, down, down at accelerated rates month after month. Traditional home users are going from PC to devices, if you don't think so, why did M$ come out with an OS that is geared more towards tables and/or other mobile devices...?

Don't care if you agree with my point or not, i'm certain what i say will prove to be closer then not. Also double check what i put, I said "The future is not going to be PC dominated, Linux, windows, or whatever other OS platform. I would argue unless you're and IT professional needing to write programs, or an office worker doing spreadsheets, documents or other things needed for "business" type of processing, lets face it, the PC for home users is gone. "

What i ment from the PC for home users is gone, i was talking more about it being a viable platform that companies will tailor there solution for as i would think most people will be using tables, smartphones, something other than a PC. Sure, if you read my first sentence, the PC market as we know it is going away, probably not next year, or the year after but it will be going away for most home user.

30.7.2013 00:01 #5

ddp

i don't see that happening for a long time & i've been involved with computers since the mid 80's.

30.7.2013 00:40 #6

Virgil_B

I have to agree with those individuals that do not necessarily think that the home PC market is dead. Saturated or Plateaued maybe, but in my opinion, there just isn't anything out there that requires a faster machine or operating system than what most people currently have. Until there is, I think that the home PC market is going to remain stagnant. Individuals will replace older machines when they break, but the day of having to rush out and buy the latest and greatest systems are over. Especially with the way that the economy is.

If the developers would come up with something new and exciting (i.e. voice interface, home automation, home security, etc) that was optimized for multi-core systems running on Windows 8 then people would probably replace their older systems and upgrade.

2.8.2013 12:37 #7

Estuansis

Likewise, sitting on my 4GHz 1090T with 8GB of RAM and the only thing I really need is a long overdue graphics upgrade. My cards became outdated very slowly this generation. Everything else is perfectly up to snuff.

AMD Phenom II X6 1090T @ 4GHz 1.525v 2600MHz NB 1.25v, CoolerMaster Hyper 212 Evo w/ 2 x Sunon KD1212PMB3-6a 2400RPM Push/Pull, Gigabyte GA-890XA-UD3 w/ cooling mods, 8GB(2 x 4GB) G.Skill RipJaws DDR3-1600 CL9-9-9-24 1.56v, 2 x XFX HD6850 1GB Crossfire OC(775/1000)->(850/1100), CoolerMaster HAF 932 Custom, Corsair 750HX, Dell UltraSharp 2407WFP 1920 x 1200 24" LCD/Asus VH242H 1920 x 1080 23.6" LCD

2.8.2013 13:44 #8

rudeann

PC sales may be down due to the fact that no one is offering them for sale?
Just try and find a PC with decent resources and windows 7!
All the major retailers are pushing the latest offers from MS - not the products that the consumer wants, just what MS wants them to want.

2.8.2013 22:50 #9

ddp

school time is coming so there will be specials on computers but still with win8 unless you get a clone & put your own operating system on.

2.8.2013 23:48 #10

Virgil_B

Originally posted by ddp: school time is coming so there will be specials on computers but still with win8 unless you get a clone & put your own operating system on. I have found that the open source program "Classic Shell" turns Windows 8 into a useable operating system. Briefly, it restores your start button functionality and allows you to boot up into the familiar desktop instead of the start screen while preserving all of the new attributes of the new start interface of Windows 8. Best of all "Classic Shell" is free. Before finding "Classic Shell" I hated Windows 8.

3.8.2013 08:45 #11

KillerBug

PC sales are not down due to lack of users, PC sales are down because most people already have the PCs that they need to do what they need. As for low surface RT sales, is it really any wonder that a non-PC with low specs, a tiny screen, a small software library, and a high price (and no apple logo) didn't do well? Did anyone here honestly expect it to? When it was announced the die-hard Windows users bashed it, the gamers bashed it, the IT guys bashed it, even the Linux guys bashed it...in comparison to Windows 7! Yes, smartphone sales are up...but that is because we are currently seeing the first generation of smartphones that actually deliver on the promises from 6 years ago...they are going to taper off just like PC's did. Tablet sales are sucking...they may be growing but they still are nowhere near PC. Convertibles are the future for most people, but that does not mean some ARM-based Windows wanna-be.

3.8.2013 19:23 #12

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