Today, as part of its Q4 earnings report, Microsoft announced that it has incurred a $900 million loss due to its struggling Surface RT tablet. While the company otherwise reported $4.97 billion in earnings from $19.9 billion in revenue, the Surface RT cost the company a significant sum as a result of "inventory adjustments."
The news comes on the heels of Microsoft's $150 price drop on the Surface RT, now carrying a $349 MSRP for the 32GB model and $449 for the 64GB version. While Microsoft has not released specific sales statistics, IDC figures for Q1 placed Surface sales at under a million, with the Surface Pro accounting for a majority of total units sold.
Based on a stripped down version of Windows 8 and running apps optimized for touchscreen interfaces, the Surface RT acts as Microsoft's alternative to the iPad and Android-based tablets. However, with a limited array of compatible apps and the Surface Pro offering a far greater level of versatility, the Surface RT has struggled to find an audience.
http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/07/18/microsoft-lost-900-million-on-surface-rt-in-q1
