While Microsoft isn’t talking about
how the Surface RT is selling, it is cutting its price on the tablet. The
device was offered to schools and higher education institutions at a special
discounted price at the TechEd conference in May and now that discount is open to everyone.
Microsoft is offering its least-expensive 32 GB Surface RT model without a keyboard cover for $349 on
its web site, trimming $150 off the original price. The same machine with the
keyboard cover has gone from $599 to $449 and a unit with double the memory and
a keyboard cover is now $549 instead of $699.
Microsoft could be trying to move units ahead of updates
to both Surface RT and Surface Pro. Rumors have also surfaced that Microsoft is planning a switch to a new processor that
would allow it to increase the Internet connectivity of the devices.
However, industry-watchers also estimate Microsoft has
sold just 1.5 million units since the Surface launched in October, leaving it
far behind in a field dominated by the Apple iPad and the Amazon Fire.
