Microsoft Sued Over Surface RT Sales

August 13, 2013
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Whoa, who would have thought things would come to this for the Surface RT. The tablet was pretty much the face of the new Microsoft at the start of the year, since the Surface Pro launched was delayed to a later date.

But since launching alongside Windows 8, the Surface RT has seen its ups and downs.

The tablet is a well-built device, and perfectly suited for most computing tasks. Sure, the performance factor could be improved, and the same goes for the pricing. But perhaps the biggest hurdle in the Surface RT not tearing up the sales chart is that its ARM based platform.

And this has created confusion amongst buyers — which in turn has affected overall sales.

Microsoft, however, has kept quiet on how its Windows RT tablet is doing. The company did recently say revealed in a recent filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that total sales of both of its Surface products reached $853 million by June 30, 2013.

Nevertheless, the exact sales numbers were not disclosed. And this has become the subject of a newly filed class action lawsuit against the Redmond based technology titan.

Law firm Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd filed the lawsuit on behalf of Gail Fialkov, claiming that Microsoft provided false and misleading statements about the Surface RT tablet.

The lawsuit claims that Redmond failed to state how bad the sales of the Surface RT slate have been, and the company’s inventory of the tablet experienced a material decline in value during the quarter that ended March 31, 2013.

CEO Steve Ballmer, CFO Peter Klein, Corporate Vice President Frank Brod, and former marketing chief for the Windows division Tami Reller are mentioned as defendants.

The law firm is seeking an unspecified amount of damages from Microsoft.

Microsoft is yet to roll out an official statement on this, but we will keep you posted if an official comment is released. In the meantime, speak out your mind on this new affair.

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Microsoft

Mike Johnson is a writer for The Redmond Cloud - the most comprehensive source of news and information about Microsoft Azure and the Microsoft Cloud. He enjoys writing about Azure Security, IOT and the Blockchain.

All Comments

  • I’ve heard of silly lawsuits, but this takes the cake. For the “client” in question, how exactly are they hurt by not knowing the Surface exact sales figures? As for the overall point, just like Microsoft has started to run Surface vs iPad commericals. I think they need to run RT vs Pro commercials saying RT is a great tablet, but Pro can do everything a laptop can do, or something like that, since so many are so confused.

    Ray C August 13, 2013 8:28 am Reply
    • Hear, hear!

      The people behind this lawsuit are standing behind the notion that Microsoft violated general accounting practices and such. Not just that but they are saying that Redmond’s financial statements for the quarter were materially false and misleading.

      Obviously, considering just how much is (or was, depending on who is doing the talking) at stake for the Windows RT platform, what should one expect Microsoft to say? That sales are disastrous? More so with Windows RT 8.1 around the corner, and more so with Redmond’s hardware partners in the mix.

      A $200-$250 Surface slate makes total sense for students, and can potentially smoke the competition in terms of productivity. Even if they are of the 8-inch variety.

      Oh, and totally agree about the confusion bit, this is something that Microsoft needs to fix.

      Fahad Ali August 13, 2013 8:44 am Reply
  • Rodney Longoria August 13, 2013 9:40 am Reply
    • Figures. 🙁

      Fahad Ali August 13, 2013 1:59 pm Reply
  • Rodney Longoria August 13, 2013 9:40 am Reply

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