Microsoft will be distributing their Windows 8 Surface tablets, which are currently only sold online through the Microsoft Windows website, to major retail stores as early as this week according to a report by WindowsITPro.com.
The report claims that Microsoft had been planning on releasing the Surface to retail stores by spring 2013, but within the last couple of weeks they decided they wanted to try taking advantage of the holiday season. With holidays like Hanukkah and Christmas both falling in December, Microsoft has urged their production plants to speed up the pace to release more units.
Most experts believe that the company is not meeting sales expectations for the Surface so far, but if they're able to release the tablet through retail stores people may be more likely to purchase one for a loved one this holiday season.
Detwiler Fenton, a Boston brokerage firm said last week that sales for the Microsoft Surface were somewhere between 500,000 and 600,000 devices since being introduced on Oct. 26. In comparison, Apple sold over 3 million iPads devices after releasing the iPad Mini this past November.
"Lack of distribution is killing the product," said Detwiler Fenton about their findings.
The Surface tablets are currently sold on the Windows website, as well as other sites like Dell and Lenovo. They have yet to announce which retail stores will be selling the Windows 8 device, but if the Windows It Pro report is correct, a big announcement could come as early as this week.
The Surface RT only supports pre-installed software by Microsoft and apps downloaded from the Windows Store. The Surface Pro runs completely on Windows 8, and works with legacy Windows applications, however the device won't be available until early 2013.
Microsoft claims they have sold approximately 40 million Windows 8 devices since being released, which would mean they are on track to top the overall sales numbers for Windows 7. Windows 7 wound up becoming the highest-selling Microsoft software of all-time. The previous operating system sold 60 million the first three months after it was released. While this number is obviously solid compared to Windows 7, they are still far behind their closest competitor in sales numbers.
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