Microsoft Dropped "RT" From Surface to Avoid Confusion
Microsoft explains the "RT" drop in Surface 2 label.
Microsoft's product marketing manager for Surface, Jack Cowett, recently admitted that Microsoft dropped the "RT" from its latest ARM-based Surface tablet to reduce customer confusion. Microsoft reportedly blamed "customer confusion" for the lack of sales of its first-generation Surface RT model, which ended up costing the company $900 million in fiscal Q4 2013. Removing the "RT" will supposedly help alleviate that confusion even though Surface 2 and Surface Pro 2 use two different architectures.
"We think that there was some confusion in the market last year on the difference between Surface RT and Surface Pro," Cowett said. "We want to help make it easier for people, and these are two different products designed for two different people."
The new Surface 2 will feature a 10.6 inch ClearType 5-point screen with a 1920 x 1080 resolution, powered by Nvidia's Tegra 4 SoC, 2 GB of RAM and Windows RT 8.1. Other features will include a 3.5MP camera on the front, a 5MP camera on the back, an SD card reader, Wireless N and Bluetooth connectivity, HDMI output, 32 GB or 64 GB of internal storage, and more. It will also have a new two-stage kickstand based on customer feedback from the previous model.
"We got quite a lot of really good feedback from the original Surface Pro, but one thing people said to us was, 'hey if you really want us to use this thing on your lap, you need to make it easier to use as a laptop'," he said. "We've added a second angle for the kickstand, so it's much more comfortable to use on your lap. It's a tiny change but it makes a huge difference."
The problem Microsoft will face, whether it uses "RT" in the device name or not, is that customers purchasing the Surface 2 won't be able to install their favorite x86-based desktop apps. Granted, Microsoft made a bad choice in offering Surface RT exclusively in Microsoft Stores and Microsoft's website until the end of 2012. Surface Pro's faring better (even though it costs a bit more) shows what customers seemingly want in a Windows device. Yanking the "RT" out of the device name could be seen as a little deceptive to customers who don't know the difference between ARM and x86-based architecture.
Recently, there's been a lot of talk about Microsoft moving to one storefront and eventually merging Windows Phone and Windows RT. The Windows team is even shooting for one silicon interface, one cloud service, one set of APIs and one marketplace spanning both architectures. A big push in this direction is supposedly beginning in Spring 2014, but we'll see.
Back on October 2, the Surface blog was updated with news that pre-order stock of the Surface 2 (64 GB) and Surface Pro 2 (256 GB and 512 GB) were close to selling out, even at Microsoft Stores. How many units were actually available to pre-purchase is unknown, as Microsoft will likely avoid the same overstocking misstep it took with the original Surface RT.
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However, the Register reports that Microsoft only shipped a total of 2,000 Surface 2 and Surface Pro 2 units to nine resellers in the UK, 1500 of which were Surface 2 models. That said, Microsoft may be "selling out" of Surface 2 and Surface Pro 2 pre-purchase stock, but this stock could be highly limited in numbers.
Kevin Parrish has over a decade of experience as a writer, editor, and product tester. His work focused on computer hardware, networking equipment, smartphones, tablets, gaming consoles, and other internet-connected devices. His work has appeared in Tom's Hardware, Tom's Guide, Maximum PC, Digital Trends, Android Authority, How-To Geek, Lifewire, and others.
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Hando567 LOL!! So last year customers were confused that when they got their surface RT with Windows RT that it wouldnt run normal windows apps. I know! Lets just call it the "Surface 2" without RT, but load it with Windows RT anyway, so now when customers buy it they dont even know it has windows RT on it!! This way people who hate RT might still buy it!Reply
Classic M$, just decieve the customers. -
de5_Roy microsoft dropped the RT suffix so that they can trick people into buying surface 2 (running windows RT) instead of surface pro, which can run regular windows apps.Reply
poor attempt to cheat people. -
assasin32 Brilliant idea, drop RT so the people who do know about it don't know whether or not RT is loaded up on it. Now people will just think Surface 2 = low end, Surface 2 Pro = high end and not know there is an OS change.Reply
Should have kept the RT, the confusion was with what Windows RT was not the naming scheme on the product. In fact the naming scheme was the part that made perfect sense, put RT on the product running windows RT to stop the confusion. They just failed at telling people what Windows RT was. -
vmem by dropping RT, we just have Surface 2 and Surface 2 Pro... running COMPLETELY DIFFERENT OS's... doesn't that make it more confusing?Reply
if I didn't know better I'd assume Suface 2 ran windows home addition and the 'pro' ran professional... -
Vorador2 This is rich. I expect now lots of angry consumers returning their new Surface 2 tablets complaining they don't run windows apps. Not to mention the amount of shady salesman being deceptive and marketing the tablets as full windows computers.Reply -
ddpruitt ReplyMicrosoft reportedly blamed "customer confusion" for the lack of sales of its first-generation Surface RT model
It wasn't customer confusion but Microsoft confusion that caused the problem. Poor compatibility and a new confusing interface didn't help. That has to be fixed before they can really sell these things. -
SteelCity1981 first off 4 gb of ram should be in these things, seriously 2gb of ram simply isn't enough anymore you need at least 4gb of ram. secondly surface 2 only comes with 32gb or 64gb of hard drive space? seriously by the time windows 8.1 is installed you already ate up 15gb of space 32gb is a joke. they should at least come with 80gb or 120gb of hard drive space.Reply -
mdbrotha03 Damn now I have to tell people to look for the Surface Pro 2 and to stay away form the Surface 2 and RT. I hope that doesn't confuse them.Reply -
mstngs351 Reply11706136 said:LOL!! So last year customers were confused that when they got their surface RT with Windows RT that it wouldnt run normal windows apps. I know! Lets just call it the "Surface 2" without RT, but load it with Windows RT anyway, so now when customers buy it they dont even know it has windows RT on it!! This way people who hate RT might still buy it!
Classic M$, just decieve the customers.
No, what we have here is classic mindless MS hate. The people who were confused and buying the wrong tablet were confused. Get it? They didn't know what Windows RT was in the first place so having it on their was of no help to them. At least this way uninformed people can look at the two and have a clear idea as to which one is better instead of trying to guess between RT and Pro.
There really isn't much MS can do to stop stupid people who buy something without looking into it. I've lost track of how many times my girlfriend came home complaining that another customer brought back a Samsung (or whatever) tablet thinking it was an ipad... All MS can try and do is cater to the lowest common denominator and get rid of a second, nondescript name.