It has been reported recently that Microsoft’s Surface 3 tablet is in short supply and getting your hands on one is proving to be difficult. Some suggested that perhaps Microsoft is reducing supply on its own and is now in the process of clearing inventory, and that’s really what it’s doing. The company has confirmed that it’s going to stop production of the Surface 3 tablet later this year.
It’s unclear whether Microsoft is going to release the successor to the Surface 3 this year or make us wait until 2017, but at least the company has confirmed that it won’t be producing more Surface 3 units a few months from now.
Microsoft announced the Surface 3 tablet back in May last year. This $499 Intel Atom-based tablet was primarily positioned towards students and budget-conscious users. They came with Windows 8.1 out of the box but are eligible for an upgrade to Windows 10. LTE versions of this tablet were later introduced as well.
A spokesperson for Microsoft said that since launching the Surface 3 over a year ago, the company has seen strong demand among are customers and that inventory is now limited. The spokesperson also confirmed that “by the end of December 2016, we will no longer manufacture Surface 3 devices.”
The company hasn’t said anything as yet about the successor to this tablet.