Daphne Leprince-Ringuet
| June 21, 2021 — 17:26 GMT (18:26 BST)
| Topic: Hardware
After less than a year in the market, the successive price cuts are showing that the Surface Duo has been met with less enthusiasm from consumers than expected.
Image: Microsoft
“This is industry pushing technology, and it’s technology pushing possibilities,” said Microsoft’s chief product officer Panos Panay two years ago as he revealed the company’s first dual-screen device, the Surface Duo, to the public.
Microsoft went all-in and sold the Surface Duo as a premium product, with two side-by-side 5.6-inch displays that come together in a foldable device that stands right between a phone and a tablet. In September 2020, the device started shipping for an eyebrow-raising $1,400. But before long, catchy discounts were showing up, suggesting at least a slight excess of ambition on Microsoft’s part.
Price plunge
Two months after the Surface Duo was released, fans spotted that the device could be bought for $200 less; the sale dropped to $699 last May, and now Microsoft’s futuristic flagship is selling for the same price as an ordinary smartphone, at $549.
After much less than a year in the market, the successive price cuts are showing that the Surface Duo has been met with less enthusiasm from consumers than expected.
$669 at Amazon
$700 at Best Buy
$730 at Walmart
The Surface Duo was meant to help Microsoft make a serious dent in the mobile market after years of failure. “Microsoft was aiming to get back in the smartphone business,” Himank Joshi, researcher at analyst Forrester, tells ZDNet. “Launching the Surface Duo was part of the company’s strategy to ensure that it has a place in the future of mobile computing.”
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Daphne Leprince-Ringuet
| June 21, 2021 — 17:26 GMT (18:26 BST)
| Topic: Hardware