The first-generation of Microsoft Surface Windows tablets most definitely made waves when they were first introduced, although their real-world usage did not manage to live up to the hype set about at its launch. This resulted in Microsoft admitting that they built more Surface RT tablets than they should have, leading to a price cut and the possible write-down of $900 million in Surface RT inventory. That being said, has this discouraged Microsoft from releasing a successor?
Perhaps not, at least that’s what NVIDIA’s CEO, Jen-Hsun Huang, said after speaking to the folks at CNET.
According to Huang, he revealed that NVIDIA is currently working with Microsoft in creating a sequel to the Microsoft Surface tablet, with hopes that they will be able to make it even better than its predecessor. Huang seems to believe that one of the reasons the Microsoft Surface RT tablet did not take off the way it should have was due to the Outlook app not being available initially, since the RT tablet runs on ARM-based chips rather than on an Intel one which is what the Surface Pro runs on.
Huang was quoted as saying, “It is the killer app for Windows […] Now we’re going to bring it with the second-generation Surface. We’re working really hard on it, and we hope that it’s going to be a big success.” While it is likely that the lack of mainstream apps on the Surface RT put some customers off from buying the tablet, we’re not sure if it’s due to one particular tablet that caused the tablet to sell poorly.
In any case it will be interesting to see if Microsoft can learn from their mistakes with the first-generation of Surface tablets and release a successor that will be a, well, success. With regards to future Surface tablets, Microsoft has declined to comment on the topic.