Microsoft may have ditched its plans to launch a Surface Mini at the last minute, according to a recent report.
The American computing giant held a special event yesterday which saw the launch of the Surface Pro 3 tablet, but there was no sign of the much-rumoured Surface Mini.
As reported by Bloomberg, that decision may have come very late in the day. It claims that the company’s intention was indeed to feature an 8-inch Surface Mini tablet alongside the 12-inch Surface Pro 3, but that the new management team of Satya Nadella and Stephen Elop finally decided to remove all mention of the smaller device from the event.
The reason for this about-turn, according to one particular source, was a critical lack of confidence in the product on Microsoft’s part. It was felt that "the product in development wasn’t different enough from rivals and probably wouldn’t be a hit."
The insinuation from the report is that Microsoft might be looking to draw away from its Qualcomm-powered tablet line, which provide a cheaper yet more limited and less differentiated experience from its Intel-powered Surface Pro tablets.
This decision was particularly surprising as, when invites to the Surface event were handed out at the beginning of the month, they made reference to "a small gathering." Many read this as a direct reference to the Surface Mini, and an indication that it would be the star of the show.
Apparently, in an interview following the Surface 3 launch event, Microsoft’s Panos Panay claimed that Microsoft was still working on smaller versions of the Surface range.
Back to the drawing board, then?
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