HTC Reportedly Pulls The Plug On A 12-Inch Windows RT Tablet, But A Smaller Tab Lives On

HTC is currently sailing through a patch of rough seas, and it seems as though the company is starting to rethink its tablet strategy. According to a recent report from Bloomberg, HTC was planning to put together a 12-inch Windows RT tablet for release later this year before scrapping it due to cost and anemic overall demand for Windows RT.

That’s not to say that the beleaguered Taiwanese OEM is ditching Windows RT completely — there’s reportedly still a 7-inch RT tablet in the works, as well as another Android tablet. Bloomberg’s unnamed source goes on to note that demand for RT-powered tablets in general has been lackluster, so it made sense for HTC to pick its battles more carefully. After all, recent (albeit unconfirmed) Surface RT sales figures from back in March purport that Microsoft had only sold about a million units at the time — for a device meant to be the RT flagship, such numbers probably weighed heavily into the machinations of OEMs considering entering the RT fray.

Long time HTC watchers will know that focusing on a smaller number of quality devices is a tablet tactic the company has leaned on before. HTC’s recent history with tablets has been, well, pretty spotty. It’s first notable Android tablet in 2011 relied heavily on a smart stylus (a formula that Samsung would later turn into a winner) and just didn’t sell all that well, and its larger-screened followup saw similarly poor sales in the U.S. thanks to its incredibly high price tag — $699 with a contract. Clearly, things had to change.

HTC UK chief Phil Roberson said early last year that the company would be dialing back its focus on tablets, and true to his word HTC company spent much of 2012 trying to perfect its smartphone formula while facing ever-stiffer competition from rivals Samsung and Apple. Arguably the OEM has finally managed to hit its stride with the widely acclaimed One smartphone, but a single well-received device almost certainly won’t be enough to turn things around alone. It’s tough to say just how much of an impact a small Windows RT tablet will have on HTC’s flagging fortunes (I’m guessing it won’t move the needle much), but the company could use any boost it can get at this point. A quick look at HTC’s recently released fiscal Q1 2013 financials reveals a business that has definitely seen better days — it reported a mere $2.8 million in unaudited net income, down drastically from the year-ago quarter.

Microsoft targets schools with Surface RT discount

Microsoft is making a reduced-price version of its ARM-based Surface RT tablet/notebook available directly to schools and universities for two months this summer.

The "Microsoft Surface for education limited-time offer" will be available between June 24 and August 31, a spokesperson said Tuesday. Under the program, Surface RTs without keyboards will go for $199 (retail price is $499). With a touch keyboard, the discounted price is $249 (retail price is $599), and with a type keyboard the discounted price is $289 (retail price is $629).

The offer is available directly from Microsoft to K-12 and higher-education institutions. It is available to schools in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, China (via Digital China), Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Russia, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, and the United States.

There is no minimum order. Microsoft is recommending that schools get their orders in early as it is a "while supplies last" kind of deal.

Microsoft has been making its Surface RT and Surface Pro devices available for substantial discounts to attendees of some of its recent conferences. Microsoft also announced a Surface RT giveaway at a major educational conference for 10,000 teachers, as Geek Wire reported recently. I've asked Microsoft officials if the deal will be extended to cover Surface Pros, as well. No word back so far.

Microsoft company officials have not said how many Surfaces they made or how many they've sold to date, but a number of company watchers believe Microsoft ordered too many Surface RTs, based on the demand level for the ARM-based versions of its devices.

This story originally posted as "Microsoft launches Surface RT discount for schools" on ZDNet.

Microsoft, Stop Trying To Make Windows RT Happen

Bloomberg is reporting this morning that Microsoft is cutting the price of Windows RT for small tablets in a seemingly desperate bid to spur sales.

It’s a rather predictable move and a touch sad. Tablets based on Windows RT, an operating system that’s pure garbage, are not selling, because, referring to my first point, Windows RT is trash. And since they’re not selling, Microsoft is making concessions and that means cutting the price.

Windows RT was supposed to be Microsoft’s answer to iOS on tablets. Microsoft built the platform to be more robust than the Apple counterpart by including a lot of Windows 8′s desktop tools to run on lower-power devices. But in doing so, Microsoft forked its operating system, forcing developers to choose between Intel-based Windows 8 or ARM-based Windows RT (or Windows Phone 8 or Xbox).

Now, some eight months after Windows RT’s launch, very few mainstream apps have made their way into the Windows Store. There are only a smattering of Windows RT devices available. Meanwhile, Windows 8 devices are quickly becoming as inexpensive as Windows RT.

Microsoft has failed to provide buyers with legitimate reasons to buy a Window RT tablet over an iPad or Android device. Windows RT can run most of Microsoft Office, something traveling shower ring salesmen probably find enticing.

Cutting the price could help.

Android tablets went through the same sort of soul-searching early on, too. For several years, Android tablets were overpriced and without any real reason to exist (remember the HTC Jetstream?).

Then came the $250 B&N Nook Color followed a year later by the Amazon Kindle Fire and the Nexus 7. Suddenly, thanks to their $200 price tag, Android tablets were a viable option for buyers. As popularity exploded Samsung and others cut the price on larger versions, helping to entice more buyers, thus expanding the Android tablet’s market share.

I’m not sure even a $200 tablet could save Windows RT, though.

Computer makers are dropping Windows RT support en mass. HP killed its RT support early on. Samsung followed suit. HTC recently stopped developing its large RT tablet, instead focusing on a smaller, likely 7-inch model. As Bloomberg notes, Dell also has another RT model in the works.

Just the Dell XPS 10, Surface RT and the Asus VivoTab RT carry the Windows RT banner. Lenovo quickly killed its Windows RT-powered IdeaPad Yoga 11. Any other model is too far outside of the mainstream to matter.

Acer just announced the Iconia W3 at Computex. The 8-inch Windows tablet is supposed to hit at 379 Euros later this month. The small-ish tab packs modest specs: 720p display, dual-core Atom Z2760 CPU, 32 or 64GB internal storage with a microSD expansion slot. But it runs Windows 8, not Windows RT.

In fact, at Computex, Taipei’s massive computer tradeshow, there isn’t a hint of Windows RT. And this is the same tradeshow that featured dozens of Windows RT examples last year. The only talk of Windows 8′s lackluster sibling came from Acer’s chairman who told WSJ that Windows RT won’t be “so influential anymore,” also noting that it would be difficult for Windows RT to overcome the lack of compatibility that the full Windows 8 version has.

Windows RT was a mistake from the onset. It’s ridiculous to force consumers to choose between battery life and usability. They’d prefer both. Like on the iPad.

Microsoft can cut prices and perhaps later introduce device subsidies, but it won’t help. Consumers, and more telling, device manufacturers, have spoken. Neither find Windows RT devices to be worth their money. As widely stated at the Surface RT launch, the platform simply has too many compromises.

Microsoft unloading Surface RT units at $199, offering schools major discount

It’s fair to say that Microsoft’s Surface didn’t get the reception the company was hoping for. The tablet debuted last October and tanked shortly thereafter, thanks to an overly ambitious price point, poor software selection, and the myriad issues surrounding Windows 8. In late May, Microsoft put the tablet on sale at its own TechEd conference, with Surface going for $100 and Surface Pro for $399. Now, Redmond is extending a significant discount program to educational institutions.

The Surface (tablet only) will sell for $199. The Touch Cover takes the price to $249, while the Type Cover will go for $289. One point of confusion is that Microsoft is offering this price to institutions, not individual students. Presumably it’s an offer that schools can extend to their own student bodies, but it’s not clear if MS is requiring up-front bulk purchases or putting other restrictions on the transactions. Regular students can take advantage of a free Touch or Type Cover offer that MS is offering at the moment, if you’re willing to pay full price.

No matter what spin it might try to put on things, Microsoft is rather obviously dumping unsold Surface hardware at firesale prices rather than carrying it around — but at $199, Surface is actually a pretty good buy. No, it won’t break speed records, but it’s easy to carry around, the screen quality is excellent, and it’s a capable media player if you don’t need MKV support. I wouldn’t buy a Touch Cover for any significant typing needs — they’re incredibly stiff and hard to use — but the Type Cover was reportedly better in this regard.

Surface RT worked really well for reading the news and video/audio playback. Having access to Windows Explorer was occasionally handy, even if there’s no “desktop” software to speak of. The fact that it ships with a Metro version of Office isn’t the huge endorsement it would be on a different platform — you won’t want to do a lot of content creation on Surface, period. However, it’s a bonus if you want a device that’s capable of handling advanced documents and with Office compatibility.

As for the reason MS may be dumping Surface RT stock now, that’s not hard to guess. Either the company is going to pivot away from ARM altogether, or it’ll take another crack at introducing an RT tablet. Hopefully, it’ll be the latter. Getting ARM up and running on Windows was a smart long-run move for Microsoft. The ARM SoCs available in 2013 are significantly stronger than the Tegra 3-based Surface RT that Microsoft used for the first-generation device; a second-generation Surface RT could easily outpace Intel’s 32nm Clover Trail and challenge AMD’s Kabini/Temash architecture.