Report: Microsoft killed the Surface mini because it wasn't going to be a hit

On Monday night, we gave you a heads up not to expect the Microsoft Surface mini to be unveiled on Tuesday as originally expected. And sure enough, there was no bite-sized slate introduced by Microsoft today. According to sources familiar with Microsoft's thinking, the Surface mini did really exist. Satya Nadella, and Stephen Elop, Microsoft's CEO and Executive Vice President respectively, reportedly nixed the project after deciding that there wasn't much difference between the Surface mini and similar slabs offered by the competition. As a result the two Microsoft executives felt that the Surface mini would not be a hit. Microsoft is very sensitive to that issue, considering that last year it wrote off $900 million in unsold Surface RT inventory that wasn't selling.

With the ARM powered Surface mini 86'd by the suits in Redmond, today's Microsoft event had to be changed, as all references to the Qualcomm Snapdragon were removed. But just because the Surface mini was killed off before today's event, it doesn't mean that the tablet won't later resurface (no pun intended). The head of the Surface division, Panos Panay, said after today's festivities that Microsoft is still working on smaller versions of the tablet.

The decision to halt the Surface mini is a negative for Qualcomm. The smaller slate would have been the first Surface product powered by a Qualcomm chip. Microsoft said in an email on Tuesday that "Windows on ARM continues to be an important element of the Windows strategy." Still, the larger sized Surface Pro tablets, powered by Intel, are outshipping the Tegra powered Surface RT slates by a margin of 4 to 1. As a result, some analysts are applauding Microsoft's decision. Daniel Ives, an analyst at FBR Capital Markets, says that it will probably be easier to convince consumers and business customers to replace their laptops with the Surface Pro 3, than it would be to sell the Surface mini to tablet buyers.


source: Bloomberg