It took a long time coming, but Microsoft has just announced that both the Surface RT and Surface Pro would be available from US resellers. This should bode well for sales of these devices as the technology titan prepares to a refresh of its tablet lineup later this year.
Resellers that can now sell the Surface tablets include names like CDW, CompuCom Systems, Inc., En Pointe Technologies, Insight Enterprises, Inc., SHI International Corp., Softchoice, Softmart, PC Connection, Inc., PCM, Inc. and Zones Inc.
The director of Microsoft Surface, Cyril Belikoff made a detailed announcement saying:
“In addition to offering Microsoft’s extended warranty and accidental damage, resellers bring a variety of additional value-added services to the Surface family, such as asset tagging, custom imaging, kitting, onsite service and support, device recycling and data protection.
Over the next few months, we will be working to authorize commercial distributors and resellers in more countries.”
More countries would be good — as that would allow Redmond to streamline its sales channels around the globe not just for these first generation surface units, but also new ones that are expected to launch later this year.
The company also announced a partnership with ISVs (Independent Software Vendors) that would allow software makers to develop custom apps for work-related purposes.
And finally, Microsoft has also revealed that its special Surface price discount for educational institutes will be further expanded in the commercial channel to ensure that more and more buyers are able to get easy access to the device.
