Microsoft made its second generation Surface lineup official earlier this week, and analysts and market watchers have started weighing in on the company’s refreshed and revamped slates.
Both the new RT (now going by the name of Surface 2) and the Pro versions received hardware upgrades that allow for better performance and, vitally, longer battery life. The Surface Pro 2, for instance, now offers almost a full business day use with thanks to the optimized Haswell processor inside.
Still, despite all these improvements, Wes Miller, an analyst at Directions on Microsoft thinks that the new Surface Pro 2 very much remains an expensive and premium tablet:
“When you look at the Surface Pro 2, Microsoft has counteracted anybody who looked at the first generation and said why didn’t they have Haswell. More importantly, by increasing both the performance and battery life I think it’s better value for your dollar than you got before. But it’s still a premium.”
In fewer words, it is a much improved device, but once again, is something that will interest power users and professionals more than regular end consumers that want to consume media.
Luckily, the new Surface, powered by Windows RT 8.1 should go a long way in satisfying this segment. People that want productivity on the go, but at the same time want a multimedia powerhouse, will find this and all in the second generation Surface Pro.
The analyst does, however, suggest that Microsoft should keep its options open to cut down the price a little bit to help buyers save some money.
But Redmond seems to be okay with its Pro tablets targeting the power users and business, corporate and enterprise segment. There will be many more slates running Windows 8.1 Pro out on the market before the end of the year, at various price points to cater all needs, that is for sure.
All Comments
Since they’re currently not including Surfaces in the trade-in program. Maybe they could make it where you can trade it in but only for a rebate on Surface 2 Pro
Microsoft has to keep in mind that they terrible over priced the first generation and that leave a bad taste in people’s mouth. It’s really all about market share right now, not profit. There will be no profit if there’s no market share. So the smart thing for Microsoft to do is price it right and the rest will take care of itself. Then promote and explain your product better.
You said ” … thanks to the optimized Haswell processor inside.” and I believe that not totally correct. Haswell alone would have given them only a small portion of the 75% improvement they attained. They did a lot more engineering than just selecting a new chip and I think they deserve the credit.
There were improvements inside the motherboard and other parts of the hardware, true.
I thank you (for the surface team)