Microsoft lost 1.7 billion this fiscal year on its Surface line.

[AnnoyedShelf]

Source

 

The report by ComputerWorld made use of some napkin math to reveal the incredible figure, a result of the Surface's struggling sales.

 

 

"Microsoft continued to lose money on its Surface tablets throughout its just-concluded 2014 fiscal year," reads the report, "adding hunreds of millions of dollars in red ink and boosting total losses to $1.7 billion."

This actually doesn't surprise me that much.  I do see a lot of people using Surface Pro's, but not nearly enough.

 

Microsoft's Surface line has been widely understoof to be a struggling effort, and last month saw confirmation that the firm had axed the long-developed Surface Mini.

 

 

The binning of the Mini likely contributed to the huge losses and it's entirely feasible that Microsoft had already produced a number of the devices since it was so far along in development.

Well yeah, cutting a product that you spend years developing is definitely a waste of money.  Way to go, Microsoft.

[Guest]

Good. Hopefully it disappears completely.

[flibberdipper]

GET OUT OF THE TABLET BUSINESS MICROSOFT. SURFACE = SHITFACE? It's sucks, nonetheless.

[Antistatic12]

Did Zune even lose that much?

[Damikiller37]

One day.... just maybe... Microsoft will realise that there are these magical devices we call desktop computers and there is an even more amazing phenomenon that takes place on those called gaming... and maybe, just maybe they will take interest in it once again.

[BonBon Scott]

GET OUT OF THE TABLET BUSINESS MICROSOFT. SURFACE = SHITFACE? It's sucks, nonetheless.

 

Elegantly put.

[Victorious Secret]

MS is trying to beat the record for hardware loses that the original Xbox set. 

 

Valiant effort, but it'll take a lot more to crack the OG loses. 

[Victorious Secret]

Also, repost

[flibberdipper]

Elegantly put.

I thought so.

[dalekphalm]

GET OUT OF THE TABLET BUSINESS MICROSOFT. SURFACE = SHITFACE? It's sucks, nonetheless.

I disagree whole heartedly. The Surface Pro kicks ass. The Surface RT, however, should be axed. If they want to make a surface Tablet (Or better yet a Phablet, but the Lumia 1520 borders Phablet territory) then it should be branded Windows Phone 8 to avoid confusion.

 

The biggest problem with Surface Tablets, is product confusion. People buy them assuming you can run any old x86 Windows program on it - with the Surface RT, obviously you cannot do this.

 

The other confusion is people looking at the Surface Pro and comparing it to $300 or even $500 Android tablets. They completely ignore the badass specs and interesting form factor. Granted that form factor isn't for everyone, but if I personally was looking at an Ultrabook, I'd seriously consider the Surface Pro instead. The only form factor I would also consider is the "convertible" flip form factor of like the XPS12 that Linus uses (The screen is hinged and can flip around into Tablet mode).

 

To reiterate my thoughts, I think MS should kill the RT lineup, or rebrand it as Windows Phone. Then it should focus on the Surface Pro, aiming for even better battery life, while keeping the specs at Top of the Line Ultrabook like they currently are.

[RH00D]

Straight from the article. "The losses are just an estimate because Microsoft never posted the cost of revenue for the Surface over the two year period, so it's effectively educated guesswork based on various reports." Pretty much just more sensational doom and gloom about Microsoft.

[matin94]

Also, repost

think my pcs broke, i dont see a link to the original post

[flibberdipper]

I disagree whole heartedly. The Surface Pro kicks ass. The Surface RT, however, should be axed. If they want to make a surface Tablet (Or better yet a Phablet, but the Lumia 1520 borders Phablet territory) then it should be branded Windows Phone 8 to avoid confusion.

 

The biggest problem with Surface Tablets, is product confusion. People buy them assuming you can run any old x86 Windows program on it - with the Surface RT, obviously you cannot do this.

 

The other confusion is people looking at the Surface Pro and comparing it to $300 or even $500 Android tablets. They completely ignore the badass specs and interesting form factor. Granted that form factor isn't for everyone, but if I personally was looking at an Ultrabook, I'd seriously consider the Surface Pro instead. The only form factor I would also consider is the "convertible" flip form factor of like the XPS12 that Linus uses (The screen is hinged and can flip around into Tablet mode).

 

To reiterate my thoughts, I think MS should kill the RT lineup, or rebrand it as Windows Phone. Then it should focus on the Surface Pro, aiming for even better battery life, while keeping the specs at Top of the Line Ultrabook like they currently are.

The Surface Pro is pretty good, but the RT sucks (I will give you that). But they need better specs. Isn't the highest you can get an i5? I know the RAM/SSD is pretty good, but... Just an i5?

[Victorious Secret]

think my pcs broke, i dont see a link to the original post

 

http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/192811-microsoft-surface-losses-might-be-approaching-to-2-billion-dollar/

 

The Surface Pro is pretty good, but the RT sucks (I will give you that). But they need better specs. Isn't the highest you can get an i5? I know the RAM/SSD is pretty good, but... Just an i5?

 

You can get a i7 in the SP3, its a pretty damn powerful device all things considered. 

[Victorious Secret]

Straight from the article. "The losses are just an estimate because Microsoft never posted the cost of revenue for the Surface over the two year period, so it's effectively educated guesswork based on various reports." Pretty much just more sensational doom and gloom about Microsoft.

 

If we can't have sensationalist reporting about how MS and Apple are dying or should die or are backwards and need to die and how Linux is the best and PRAISE GABEN, then what would the internet ever do? 

[dalekphalm]

The Surface Pro is pretty good, but the RT sucks (I will give you that). But they need better specs. Isn't the highest you can get an i5? I know the RAM/SSD is pretty good, but... Just an i5?

Nope you can get an i7. The top model is an i7 with a 512 GB SSD - that's pretty well specced. Granted it runs $2000 CAD (Might be less in USA), so it's not cheap, but ANY laptop/ultrabook/tablet is going to be pricey with those specs, and this thing is definitely a premium product, so it's going to cost more than a piece of shit plastic cased competitor (Granted there are competitors with excellent construction/materials as well).

 

http://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msca/en_CA/pdp/Surface-Pro-3/productID.300194700

[AnnoyedShelf]

The Surface Pro is pretty good, but the RT sucks (I will give you that). But they need better specs. Isn't the highest you can get an i5? I know the RAM/SSD is pretty good, but... Just an i5?

You can get an i7 in the Surface Pro 3.

[flibberdipper]

http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/192811-microsoft-surface-losses-might-be-approaching-to-2-billion-dollar/

 

 

You can get a i7 in the SP3, its a pretty damn powerful device all things considered. 

Oh, durrr. I was looking at the SP2. But can you get an i3 (a 64GB SSD and 4GB of RAM would makes sense with an i3)?

 

Nope you can get an i7. The top model is an i7 with a 512 GB SSD - that's pretty well specced. Granted it runs $2000 CAD (Might be less in USA), so it's not cheap, but ANY laptop/ultrabook/tablet is going to be pricey with those specs, and this thing is definitely a premium product, so it's going to cost more than a piece of shit plastic cased competitor (Granted there are competitors with excellent construction/materials as well).

Yeah. I was looking at the SP2. But look what I wrote above. Personally, I'm sold on the Lenovo Yoga deal (one at Best Buy, I love it).

 

You can get an i7 in the Surface Pro 3.

You people ninja me too much.

[Victorious Secret]

Oh, durrr. I was looking at the SP2. But can you get an i3 (a 64GB SSD and 4GB of RAM would makes sense with an i3)?

 

Yeah. I was looking at the SP2. But look what I wrote above. Personally, I'm sold on the Lenovo Yoga deal (one at Best Buy, I love it).

 

http://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msca/en_CA/pdp/Surface-Pro-3/productID.300194700

Yup, 64GB with an i3, i5 can have 128 and 256, i7 can have 256 and 512

[flibberdipper]

http://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msca/en_CA/pdp/Surface-Pro-3/productID.300194700

Yup, 64GB with an i3, i5 can have 128 and 256, i7 can have 256 and 512

Well then, I take most of what I said back. But the RT needs to die in hell.

[Victorious Secret]

Well then, I take most of what I said back. But the RT needs to die in hell.

 

100% agreed. RT just needs to stop trying to be a thing. 

 

Apple pulled off a dumb OS because they did it first, and had the most time to get as many apps as possible. RT was too late to the game and a horrible middle ground. Just kill it off, slash the i3 Pros price by 30%, and call it a day. 

[flibberdipper]

100% agreed. RT just needs to stop trying to be a thing. 

 

Apple pulled off a dumb OS because they did it first, and had the most time to get as many apps as possible. RT was too late to the game and a horrible middle ground. Just kill it off, slash the i3 Pros price by 30%, and call it a day. 

Then slash the rest by at least 10% to make me feel better. And make Lenovo give me a Yoga that I want.

[Sauron]

I hope they learn the lesson and get back to focusing on the pc market. Why would anyone want windows on a tablet anyway? It can't replace a laptop in the tasks that would actually require something more than android so what's the point?

[RH00D]

I hope they learn the lesson and get back to focusing on the pc market. Why would anyone want windows on a tablet anyway? It can't replace a laptop in the tasks that would actually require something more than android so what's the point?

What tasks can you do on a laptop that cannot be done on a Surface Pro 3?

[Warcony]

I hope they learn the lesson and get back to focusing on the pc market. Why would anyone want windows on a tablet anyway? It can't replace a laptop in the tasks that would actually require something more than android so what's the point?

 

What can an ultrabook do that a surface pro 3 can't?  There certainly are things that the surface pro 3 can do that an ultrabook cannot do though!