Samsung Cancels Windows RT Tablets Release in U.S.

News
By Zak Islam
published

Retail partners not seeing strong demand.

South Korean technology giant Samsung has revealed that it has canceled plans to launch Windows RT devices in the United States.

It previously announced the ATIV Tab, a 10.1-inch device that's powered by an ARM-based processor and Windows RT. However, Mike Abary, Samsung USA’s senior vice president of its PC and tablet divisions, said in an interview with CNET that the firm's retail partners indicated demand for Windows 8-powered devices is modest.

The executive also pointed towards the fact that it would take too much time and investment for Samsung to tell consumers about the benefits of Windows RT.

"There wasn't really a very clear positioning of what Windows RT meant in the marketplace, what it stood for relative to Windows 8, that was being done in an effective manner to the consumer," he said. "When we did some tests and studies on how we could go to market with a Windows RT device, we determined there was a lot of heavy lifting we still needed to do to educate the customer on what Windows RT was.

"And that heavy lifting was going to require pretty heavy investment. When we added those two things up, the investments necessary to educate the consumer on the difference between RT and Windows 8, plus the modest feedback that we got regarding how successful could this be at retail from our retail partners, we decided maybe we ought to wait."

Following Microsoft's announcement of its Surface RT tablet, which itself has failed to make an impact in the market, Hewlett-Packard also decided to cancel its Windows RT tablet plans last year, which was joined by Toshiba as well.

When compared to the same period a year ago, U.S. sales of Windows devices during the four-week launch of Windows 8 decreased by 21 percent.

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Zak Islam
23 Comments Comment from the forums
  • gavenr
    old news
    Reply
  • jay2tall
    Doesn't surprise anyone. Why would a large company like Samsung jump on a boat that is just floating around in the ocean without any steam behind it. Good job Microsoft, you killed your tablet by charging way to much for a new product that was introduced into a market already saturated by the Ipad groupies and the Andriod loyalists. I would have bought a Surface if it was $400 with touch keypad. They were never going to compete at the same price point as the two already tried and true platforms.

    Microsoft Fail.
    Reply
  • twelve25
    This is kind of like the old Mac vs PC debate in reverse. Windows RT is a great product, but why pay more to have access to fewer applications?

    Reply
  • memadmax
    No............
    They are butthurt over microsoft making it's own tablets to expose people to Win8.
    It's nothing new for MS to make "intro" hardware for it's OS's....
    And it's nothing new for some butthurt company to pound it's fists over it as well...
    Reply
  • rebel1280
    memadmaxNo............They are butthurt over Microsoft making it's own tablets to expose people to Win8.It's nothing new for MS to make "intro" hardware for it's OS's....And it's nothing new for some butthurt company to pound it's fists over it as well...Yeah, Toshiba and Samsung are the ones getting hurt over not producing tablets for MS. /sarcasm
    Its MS that's going to be hurt due EXTREME lack of exposure on an already low receiving OS. Toshiba and Samsung are already extremely successful, not to mention better suited to handle multiple devices and applications as is proof by their massive portfolios. The fact that they actually paid attention to what consumer groups were saying and building a case around it already makes them better than MS, which didn't listen to almost any of the people beta testing W8. Create a W7/W8 hybrid and a leave RT and WP8 alone.
    Reply
  • rebel1280
    gavenrold newsSorry if i don't keep up with current news, but i was unaware of this, though not unexpected. So maybe this article was just written for me thx Zak! ;)
    Reply
  • GreaseMonkey_62
    Given that most people don't care about Windows RT and everyone was waiting for Surface Pro to release anyways, this isn't that big a deal. Microsoft's only hope to save Windows RT is for RT based tablets to have a budget price with premium quality. Than people would be more willing to buy one. Since I don't see it happening, Windows RT will have had a short run.
    Reply
  • Benihana
    rebel1280The fact that they actually paid attention to what consumer groups were saying and building a case around it already makes them better than MSQFT +1
    Reply
  • memadmax
    rebel1280Yeah, Toshiba and Samsung are the ones getting hurt over not producing tablets for MS. /sarcasmIts MS that's going to be hurt due EXTREME lack of exposure on an already low receiving OS. Toshiba and Samsung are already extremely successful, not to mention better suited to handle multiple devices and applications as is proof by their massive portfolios. The fact that they actually paid attention to what consumer groups were saying and building a case around it already makes them better than MS, which didn't listen to almost any of the people beta testing W8. Create a W7/W8 hybrid and a leave RT and WP8 alone.
    No, they admitted they were mad over MS making their own hardware... There are articles even on tom's that say so.
    I'm not saying anything about Win8.... I'm saying companies are mad at MS for putting out hardware and competing with companies that don't normally compete with each other...

    I can tell that there are at least 4 people here that don't get the point and automatically think it's Win8's fault... but thats not the point...
    Reply
  • booyaah
    memadmaxNo, they admitted they were mad over MS making their own hardware... There are articles even on tom's that say so.I'm not saying anything about Win8.... I'm saying companies are mad at MS for putting out hardware and competing with companies that don't normally compete with each other...I can tell that there are at least 4 people here that don't get the point and automatically think it's Win8's fault... but thats not the point...
    Google brands the Nexus, it's not like Samsung pulled their Galaxy S4. I don't see a big difference. But yeah they really do need to drop the price down by $100.
    Reply