Microsoft’s 128GB Surface Pro Sells Out At Online Store Just Hours After Launch

http://techcrunch.com/2013/02/09/microsofts-128gb-surface-pro-sells-out-at-ms-online-store-just-hours-after-launch/

by talhof8 • 13 years ago

79 91 13 years ago

jmduke• 13 years ago

This is kind of empty without knowing how much the online store stocked.

rm9992• 13 years ago

Also the RT saw 'very high' rates of return, the pro may have similar issues. I think the most useful measure will be the number sold (after returns) after a a few months.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-10805_3-57566759-75/microsoft-surf...

Livven• 13 years ago

It's safe to assume that the overwhelming majority of those returns are because of buyers who saw "Windows" and thought it'd run existing desktop applications.

dotjosh• 13 years ago

This sounds like the technique that bands use when they first come to a new city. Use a smaller venue so everyone hears the show was sold out.. then the next time they come back, they can play a bigger venue and fill it.

PedroBatista• 13 years ago

All 30 of them?

It would be nice that these "news" sites refused to publish this kind of information unless Microsoft (in this case) revealed the number of units sold.

UnoriginalGuy2• 13 years ago

Yeah. Or at least gave us a ballpark figure. I mean if they said "over 30K units" for example, that is good enough for me.

Ralz• 13 years ago

It probably was around that number, I doubt MS would make 300 units for their launch.

jiggy2011• 13 years ago

It's a shame the keyboard cover isn't stiff enough to not require the stand. In that picture the stand makes it look sort of awkward.

tcdowney• 13 years ago

Unfortunately I don't think there is enough mass in the keyboard to allow for any amount of stiffness make a difference.

jimbobimbo• 13 years ago

This is a feature of this particular device. Keyboard doubling as stands are offered by other OEMs.

Encosia• 13 years ago

You don't spend any time looking at it from that angle when you're using it, but the stand and cover make it just as usable as a real laptop as long as you've got a tabletop. I'm able to type as fast/accurate on my RT with the Type Cover as I can on my MacBook Air.

brentsota• 13 years ago

I checked online inventory at all Minnesota Best Buy and Staples locations at 8:30 and all were out-of-stock for the 128. I was also at the Microsoft store this morning in Minnesota for the 'launch'. There were about 40 people in line before the doors opened. Even before the doors opened, they came to each of us and told us that the 128 was already sold out and that we would be 'first' in line on the waiting list. It seems to me that the only 'stock' at any of the stores were the display models.

jonknee• 13 years ago

Yes it would be better if there were inventory figures, but that doesn't stop the exact same stories to come out about Apple launches.

Scorponok• 13 years ago

Which are usually followed by Apple saying "We're delighted to have sold [a crapload] of [whatever] this weekend, a record amount etc etc". That's why Apple sellouts are interesting, because they actually tell you how many they've sold. If Microsoft does the same thing, kudos to them, but for the surface RT launch they didn't (IIRC).

chmars2• 13 years ago

1. Buyers apparently know that they have to go for the 128 GB version if they want to have sufficient storage for their own data.

2. The headline reminds my of book editions: '1st edition sold out!' 'Interesting, how many books were printed for the 1st edition?'

UnoriginalGuy2• 13 years ago

#1: Or just install an SD card...

codinghorror• 13 years ago

Perf will not be great to the card though. Depends what you install or store there, or if it even can be installed there. SD cards are fine for general media storage, but anything perf intensive you don't want there.

chmars2• 13 years ago

That's possible of course (well, 'of course' outside the Apple world) but not very convenient in my experience except if you use the same SD card all the time. Everything else doesn't fit well with a portable device.

The question remains, however, how well the Surface manages data an SD cards, i.e., can you save everything you like on an SD card including apps?

p3nt3ll3r• 13 years ago

Better build 10 more to sell. ;)

frozenport• 13 years ago

Theory: MS had low stock due to Surface RT sales.

anonymfus2• 13 years ago

Problem is, RT had low stock at start too.

Kiro• 13 years ago

What's with the negativity? Nothing beats the Surface Pro at the moment so I'm not surprised it sells out.

ChuckMcM2• 13 years ago

I see what you did there :-)

I suspect the negativity is the non-news news (which is to say insufficient context to evaluate the story, sadly a common news problem these days). No doubt Microsoft will give out some more durable numbers of units sold at some point. We'll all compare them to the number of units of $favorite_product{$user} sold and then gloat or gnash our teeth. :-)

mtgx2• 13 years ago

Nothing beats it at what? As a tablet, it's not that useful. It's heavy, low battery life, and not even close to having many good "tablet" apps. As an ultrabook I suppose it's alright, but I wouldn't find it useful myself, as I watch movies from bed a lot with the laptop on a desk, and the angle of the Surface with its dock would make watching a movie on it like this impossible.

ChuckMcM2• 13 years ago

"Nothing beats it" get it? If you've got "nothing" your in a superior position to someone who owns one. Wink wink.

eurodance• 13 years ago

To me, this is a marketing tactic.

6ren• 13 years ago

It's hard to believe they sold both.

Tloewald• 13 years ago

Whether or not this represents a lot of sales, the fact is there are plenty of Microsoft fanboys. They don't get ridiculed by the press the way Apple fanboys do, but the fact that people would queue for a new release of Windows back in the day is testament to it. Just as Apple can sell a buttload of products on day one but ultimately have a flop product, although we haven't seen such a flop in some time, so can Microsoft (Vista!).

bnegreve• 13 years ago

Wow, although I don't care much about the Surface (I use Linux and laptops) I am very surprised how fast everyone is at bashing the Surface.

It looks like if was a lost cause before even it was lunch.

nivla• 13 years ago

Its the same old fanboyisms, brand loyalty, hivemind hatred all mixed into one, ie a weakness of human trait to look at things subjectively. Remember when Nexus 4 got sold out? You din't see comments like "ohh look they intentionally put < X units as a marketing strategy".

Never make a hivemind decision the sole reason for buying or avoiding a product. Try them first, be it chromebook, macbook or a windows ultrabook, you will be surprised how reality differs.

sigkill2• 13 years ago

I guess I'm the only one who isn't surprised that the 128GB sold out. Do you guys remember that when they made the Xbox 360 originally it launched in the Core and Premium (I had initially written Arcade and Pro here, but my intention was Core and Pro)versions with none and 20gigs HDD respectively? If my memory serves me right, they had higher sales of the 20 gig model rather than the arcade model.

Holding that thought train did anyone else compare this to the Dan Ariely's 'Predictably Irrational' chapter of human choice. Given A, A-, and B, A looks better than B precisely because our minds compare A with A-, over which it's clearly superior and applies that to B as well. Only, here they don't need a B. They've made it work fantastically with just A and A- options.

evoxed• 13 years ago

IIRC the Arcade came about a year after the original X360. I had one of the originals, chrome disc drive and 10GB HD (maybe that was usable space). ... Okay, looked it up and you're right, except it was the 'Core' model. Arcade was two full years after launch.

Difference: Premium cost only $100 more than the Core ($400 vs $300) but came with basically over $200 worth of upgrades incl. HDD, wireless controller, headset, and memory card. You also needed the HDD to play Xbox Live.

sigkill2• 13 years ago

Yes, my fault. I actually indeed meant Core and Pro. Totally slipped my mind that Arcade was actually an official edition and had 4GB SSD or something.

petrel• 13 years ago

Now or then, everyone will go to the surface, also those who make jokes out of it.

zalzane• 13 years ago

This is an interesting article, and I think it's the product of microsoft marketing.

After the lukewarm sales of the surface last fall, I bet microsoft would be keen to stock stores with less surface pros on release to provoke articles like this. After glancing at this article title, the first thing I thought was "Maybe there might be something good about the surface that I had overlooked?".

It's a bit of a stretch, but isn't unreasonable for a good sales team.

firefoxman1• 13 years ago

My local Staples received a shipment of exactly two: One display model and one in box.

mtgx2• 13 years ago

It seems you're not the only person reporting that they've only had the display devices on stock. I wonder if they did that for most of the stores to say they sold out quickly. It's not easy to take Microsoft at face value these days. So I remain skeptical until we get more data.

berntb• 13 years ago

>>I think [the article is] the product of microsoft marketing.

You're probably correct, re this sell out. Consider:

The article noted that "The Surface RT sold out of the $500 32GB model within one day". Analysts have noted (a good deal after the launch) that the RT did not sell much at all -- so if even that one sold out initially, the initial "sell-out" is probably planned...

seanmcdirmid2• 13 years ago

Surface RT sold out when it was released also. I wouldn't read too much into this.

wilfra2• 13 years ago

They learned from Apple to artificially limit supply so they sell out quickly, thus increasing demand in the long run. Not much else to see here.

Samuel_Michon3• 13 years ago

"Apple [artificially limits] supply so they sell out quickly"

Citation needed.

Whenever Apple launches a new iDevice, it sells millions of units within days. When stock is depleted that fast, that means it could've sold more if they had the inventory, and they miss out on sales because of customers choosing something that is in stock at the time.

pbhjpbhj2• 13 years ago

>it sells millions of units within days //

How many of those are pre-orders? My point being if they sell out but only have a small % more products than they have pre-orders for then it suggests they are indeed using scarcity for marketing purposes.

Like you note there's not real point in speculating on it without firm stats.

wilfra2• 13 years ago

After decades of new products always selling out quickly, you'd think they'd be able to get their supply chain in order, but alas, the next iPhone and iPad will both be "sold out" within days.

It's a very clever and effective marketing strategy, even when people know they are doing it. We want (and talk about!) what we can't have, even if the reason we can't have it is artificial. Just like a movie or TV show we can't see but which was completed months ago.

robomartin7• 13 years ago

OK, time to inject some reality here, particularly in light of comments akin to "they sold all <something less than 10>" on this thread.

I don't own one but will buy one eventually. Surface Pro is a significant step forward in the world of tablets for a number of reasons. I won't go into all of them here --and I probably haven't recognized them all yet anyway.

1- it's a design that is far more open than iPad. You can move files in and out of it and have full control of the user directory structure. Want to move a bunch of your spreadsheets, recipes, python scripts and chess games into it. No problem. You don't have an Apple-like overlord prohibiting any of that.

2- Need to install XAMPP, Python and other dev tools? No problem?

3- Want to install VMware and boot Ubuntu 12.04 LTS on a VM for a full command-line dev environment and even virtual host a few sites? No problem.

4- and, after all that work, do you want to create a restricted user account for your 5-year-old to be able to play some games and educational apps? No problem at all.

5- How about accounts for guests and friends so that they don't accidentally mess with your stuff? Yup.

6- Need more hard drive space? How about attaching an external USB hard drive and, perhaps keeping all your dev work there for easy transport to your desktop? Yup.

7- Can you use that really cool RC Flight Simulator that comes with a custom USB interface to your JR9505 transmitter? Of course you can.

8- Or, how about that receipt or business card USB scanner?

9- That neat Logithech keyboard you use on all your PC's? Of course.

10- can you run SolidWorks, AutoCAD, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Dreamweaver, CuteFTP, Komodo, WinForth, Keil, Eclipse, Photoshop, Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Fritz and a whole host of other software you might already be using for fun and work? Sure looks that way.

Yeah. Exactly. Just like an iPad.

forman• 13 years ago

It's a compromise between an ultra book and a tablet. If you tout its ultra book qualities you can make it look like it trumps a tablet. If you tout its tablet qualities you can make it look like it trumps an ultra book.

The real issue is that as an ultra book it compares poorly to other ultra books and as a tablet it compare poorly to other tablets.

rlu2• 13 years ago

Gonna go ahead and say that I've almost completely stopped using my Samsung Series 9 (amazing, beautiful ultrabook) ever since I got my Surface RT.

It works fine on my lap and it's a great computer (Pro of course even MORE so). The only use case that a normal laptop runs circles around it is when you're laying in bed and need to use the keyboard.

I agree with grandparent, though I do see what you're saying. Yes: there is compromise when getting a Surface. But, I honestly have a great laptop experience and a great tablet experience. I'm perfectly happy with it and wouldn't go back to using two separate devices.

gamblor956• 13 years ago

True, but the point of the Surface Pro and future ultratablets is that the user is willing to accept that it does not do either ultrabook or tablet as well as its competitors but can do both as the situation demands.

dragontamer5• 13 years ago

Well a smartphone compares poorly to dumbphones as a phone (significantly worse battery life. Lack of consistent physical buttons such as "disconnect current call", less reliable, much larger / less portable than a dumbphone, generally more expensive as well). Smartphones compare poorly to tablets as a tablet (too small a screen for serious media viewing, generally underpowered compared to Tablet CPUs).

But because a smartphone can do both, it has become a useful device.

That said, of the convertables, the Surface isn't actually on my shortlist anymore. Lenovo Helix and XPS Duo 12 look superior to the Surface. But I'm not against the concept of a combined device.

robomartin7• 13 years ago

So what?

Sorry to be so blunt. I own half a dozen laptops and over a dozen desktops. If that's what I need, that's what I'll use. An sPro will actually provide greater capabilities and options rather than reduce them.

dragontamer5• 13 years ago

Windows 8 Pro comes with Microsoft's Hyper-V virtualization. http://www.modern.ie/virtualization-tools

So no need to install VMWare anymore.

robomartin7• 13 years ago

Very cool. I, almost exclusively, use "raw" Linux (meaning: no GUI installed, just command line). I'd be a trip to have it available on a tablet.

hospadam• 13 years ago

Here's the thing... every item on your list is laptop specific. I just don't see how it being on the Surface Pro does you any good? Ultimately - you're paying $900-$1000 - and (from what you've written) you're going to use it exactly like a laptop. At that point... aren't there better laptops for your money?

bosie• 13 years ago

which laptop at $1000 can rotate its touchscreen by 90 degrees? only one i can think of right now is the msi slider

nilkn2• 13 years ago

I've had a Macbook Air for a while now and my problem with the Surface is simply that I've never once desired to have a touchscreen on my little laptop. The large trackpad and keyboard are superior to a touch interface in almost every way for me.

I have an iPad that my parents got for me, and I struggle to force myself to use it because the entire touch interface seems inferior. Every time I lay down in bed with my iPad, I end up regretting it as soon as I have to type anything or use a website that doesn't have a really well-engineered mobile version or iPad app.

The touch interface seems ideal on much smaller devices, like phones, where it's not even remotely feasible to have a keyboard and a trackpad. I personally don't understand the desire to transfer it to larger devices, though.

The one major saving grace of touch-centric devices like the iPad, IMHO, is that it has made computing and the internet more accessible to people who otherwise wouldn't have learned to use traditional interfaces for whatever reason.

Scene_Cast2• 13 years ago

I've used a Lenovo X230-T. It's a 12" laptop with a touchscreen, convertible to a tablet. I use it as a workstation laptop (lots of PC-specific apps) quite often, but then it magically doubles as an entertainment device during my 15-minute breaks and after hours. Switching between a laptop and an iPad carries a non-insignificant overhead, I found - I, for one, actually like the laptop/tablet form factor.

robomartin7• 13 years ago

I own six PC laptops. I'd take the SPro to bed, the coffee shop or on a trip to read my books tablet style. On a trip I could even do real work on it --coding, writing, design, whatever-- and have access to, effectively Windows or Linux as required. I could install Dropbox and synchronize my work as required. During the same trip I could hand the sPro to my kids and let them log on to their own restricted account to play games --as a tablet-- without having to fear that they could accidentally destroy my work or email that business contact in Munich some gibberish. I could also hand the SPro around the table at a business meeting with the confidence provided by a restricted purpose-specific throwaway account t I created for that meeting that only provides access to the three documents I want them to see and not my Address-book, Meetup, LinkedIn and Facebook accounts. They also don't need to have access to my Chrome where they could gain entry into plain-text passwords stored in the browser.

Again, I could go on.

For corporate use it is an absolute no-brainier.

thedrbrian• 13 years ago

You won't be don't much with solidworks or autocad with the crappy intel 4000 graphics card nor will the battery last anywhere near the 10 hours of the iPad. The surface pro is stretch between a laptop and a tablet and ends up as a master of none

EDIT:will we ever see any numbers from Microsoft or will we always be stuck with the amazon style multiplier?

wlesieutre• 13 years ago

The HD 4000's performance in AutoCAD is not far below common discrete cards. Keep in mind, the graph here is showing it against desktop cards, and it comes in slightly under the Radeon HD 7750. That's a $100 budget gaming card. For 2D CAD (still fairly common in architecture, I can't speak to other industries), the benchmark is almost identical across the board.

So no, it can't match the performance of a GTX 680. And I doubt it handles complicated models very well. But it's by no means incapable of light CAD work, especially compared to laptops.

http://www.pugetsystems.com/labs/articles/AutoDesk-AutoCAD-2...

coldtea2• 13 years ago

The whole list of things you added is a step BACKWARDS from the iPad and Android Tablets.

It means relying on old desktop paradigms and having a sub-par tablet experience. If you want to run Windows and it's software on something portable (which, by the list you provide, you do) get an ultra-portable. Even a MB Air will do.

But if you want a tablet, get a real tablet, that pushes the envelope forward for how to work on that form factor.

dragontamer5• 13 years ago

This sort of statement reminds me of what people used to say about the first smartphones.

Want a phone? Get a more portable, smaller Razr (the original one). Want a PDA? Get a real PDA, like a Palm Pilot.

Why should we create "PDA-phones" (aka, what smartphones were called back then), when PDAs do PDA things better, and Real Phones do the phone part better?

robomartin7• 13 years ago

Nope. It's a huge step forward. It means that I would have a tablet with full PC capabilities, including the option to runLinux through virtualization. Major woody.

The fact that I listed these thing doesn't necessarily mean I would personally use it that way. As an example, if I had a meeting where I needed to work with Solidworks files I'd far more inclined to take one of my big laptops with the 17 inch screen. My intent was to simply illustrate the range of possibilities in order to drive a point.

InclinedPlane• 13 years ago

11- You can install linux on it as the sole OS.

12- You can run IIS, apache, nginx, rails, node.js (on windows or linux) and serve content off it (either as a test server or as a production server, if you really want).

rayiner• 13 years ago

Okay. So I don't own one and don't plan to, and here is why:

> 1- it's a design that is far more open than iPad. You can move files in and out of it and have full control of the user directory structure. Want to move a bunch of your spreadsheets, recipes, python scripts and chess games into it. No problem. You don't have an Apple-like overlord prohibiting any of that.

I don't want to control my tablet's directory structure. As long as I can put my files on it (and I can) I'm good.

> 2- Need to install XAMPP, Python and other dev tools? No problem?

I can do that, better, on my laptop.

> 3- Want to install VMware and boot Ubuntu 12.04 LTS on a VM for a full command-line dev environment and even virtual host a few sites? No problem.

I can do that, better, on my laptop.

> 4- and, after all that work, do you want to create a restricted user account for your 5-year-old to be able to play some games and educational apps? No problem at all.

I'm going to hand my $1000 Surface Pro to my five year old? The five year old is getting a $200 Nexus 7, which is rubberized and cheap enough that I don't care when he puts it in the sink.

> 5- How about accounts for guests and friends so that they don't accidentally mess with your stuff? Yup.

Have you seen how my wife treats electronics? I can't say I didn't have notice--when I met her her computer was a netbook with three keys missing--but there is no way in hell she's touching my Surface Pro. No, she's getting an iPad, which I don't care when she puts it in the sink.

> 6- Need more hard drive space? How about attaching an external USB hard drive and, perhaps keeping all your dev work there for easy transport to your desktop? Yup.

Dropbox + Wifi?

> 7- Can you use that really cool RC Flight Simulator that comes with a custom USB interface to your JR9505 transmitter? Of course you can.

Why would I want to run this on my tablet?

> 8- Or, how about that receipt or business card USB scanner?

They have ones that connect to WiFi now.

> 9- That neat Logithech keyboard you use on all your PC's? Of course.

Bluetooth.

> 10- can you run SolidWorks, AutoCAD, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Dreamweaver, CuteFTP, Komodo, WinForth, Keil, Eclipse, Photoshop, Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Fritz and a whole host of other software you might already be using for fun and work? Sure looks that way.

I wouldn't want to run half of those on a tiny 10" screen, and the other half have perfectly good iPad replacements.

robomartin7• 13 years ago

OK then. Don't buy one.

Are you married to my wife's sister? Did yours pour a full glass of orange juice into your HP calculator? Nearly had a heart attack. Took the batteries out. Dunked it in clean water and put it out in the sun to dry. Still working like a champ many, many years later.

majormajor• 13 years ago

The Surface Pro looks a little before its time (heat and weight-wise), but I agree with almost all of this. Currently I've got a little Kindle Fire HD (better speakers than the Nexus) for watching videos on the go. I've got a MBP for doing "real work" on around the apartment. But when I travel, I'd love something that lets me do the work, using the tools I already know, while also being usable as a tablet for content consumption and note-taking (the active digitizer is a really nice bonus). iPads aren't cheap, and I can't imagine paying that much for something that can't do the duty of a laptop in a pinch.

The ThinkPad Helix also looks very interesting. IMO this is an instance of Microsoft being the ones skating to where the puck is going to be.

falcolas• 13 years ago

Most of the physical stores (read the 4 major retailers I visited earlier today) in my town sold out as well.

beagle3• 13 years ago

Some people who actually asked in stores that have sold out were told that the store got 2 (a display item and an inventory item).

It would not be surprising if this is engineered to make it sell out quickly and seem more desirable than it really is.

dragontamer5• 13 years ago

I'm somewhat excited about the "Convertible" concept. But technically, I don't think convertibles are quite ready yet for mainstream adoption.

Frankly, the real problem is that Intel / AMD chips are not ready to compete in this form factor. Intel is making bold new moves with Haswell however, and AMD is making big moves with Kabini, Temash and Kaveri.

In this generation, the lowest TDP chips are 17-Watt Ivy Bridges and 10-Watt Atoms / AMD Brazos. For whatever reason, AMD Brazos aren't getting used in tablets (they seem like a nice chip though...), the Clovertrail Atoms are too weak (lacks out-of-order execution, performs mediocre even compared to ARM chips, extremely poor GPU performance), and the 17-Watt Ivy Bridges use too much power compared to the 5-Watt Arm chips competition.

( Part of the reason is that Intel Atom chips are second-class citizens of Intel. They don't get access to the latest process, and were instead seen as a cheap cost-effective chip for netbooks, as opposed to a premium power-efficient but powerful chip that you'd expect in a tablet. )

With a power disadvantage, this generation of convertibles just ain't gonna cut it in terms of battery life / portability / weight. The CPUs require too much power, which require bigger batteries.

Next generation stuff from AMD / Intel however is looking quite exciting, and the potential standardization of widespread adoption of DDR4 for more power savings helps this form factor greatly.

In fact, Intel has introduced new instructions to Clovertrail Atoms and Haswell specific to new low-power states of the CPU. Intel's willing to change their instruction set to get better power savings.

True, Tablets will benefit from DDR4 (and already have the power-saving instructions Intel is only now implementing). But the real benefit of battery life stops being useful past around 8-hours or so. (With exception of e-readers and their 30+ days of battery life. Those things are amazing on vacation).

Furthermore, ARM chips are growing in a different direction in the near future... they're aiming at the server marketplace. The innovations of ARM 64-bit don't really translate to smartphones / tablets. Exciting for the server market, but I don't really see major innovations occurring for Tablet-space ARMs in the near future.

If the convertible concept survives till next year, then we'll see some real competition. In 2014, ARM chips will grow into the server market and attack Xeons / Opterons. And simultaneously, Intel / AMD solutions will have their first real salvo into the ultra-portable market.

---------

That said, the Surface needs to be made. Microsoft needs to innovate from the software side and figure out how to update Windows 8 to be more palatable for everyone. So even if Intel / AMD chips aren't ready to compete, Microsoft gotta move forward here. They're clearly falling behind in this race and need to put something out there.

MaysonL• 13 years ago

Interestingly, the 128 gig iPad is not in stock in Apple's online store, various models indicating shipping in 1-3 or 3-5 business days.

Microsoft’s 128GB Surface Pro Sells Out At Online Store Just Hours After Launch

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