Seven-Inch Microsoft Surface Tablet On The Way – Report

A seven-inch version of the Microsoft Surface tablet will reportedly enter production later this year as the company attempts to expand its market share in light of declining PC sales.

The Wall Street Journal reported smaller tablets were not part of the company’s original tablet strategy last year, but the popularity of smaller devices has prompted it to react, just as Apple did with the launch of the 7.9-inch iPad Mini.

Half of all tablets shipped during the most recent quarter were smaller than eight inches, whereas Microsoft and its hardware partners have not been producing devices smaller than ten inches.

Seven-inch Microsoft Surface

Microsoft executives have privately accepted consumers want cheaper, smaller tablets than the company has been able to sell and it has missed out on potential market share, leaving Google, Amazon and Apple to profit.

The Microsoft Surface RT debuted last October while the Microsoft Surface Pro was released earlier this year.

A refreshed line-up of Microsoft Surface tablets will take on increasing importance given that sales of PCs are at the lowest ever level since records began, with part of the blame attributed to Windows 8.

Since its release last October, Windows 8 has not been the saviour that the PC market had hoped for and it has even been suggested that confusion about the operating system could even be accelerating the decline.

Microsoft is also apparently planning price cuts to Windows and Microsoft Office, while it is set to reveal more information about Windows Blue, a new strategy for frequently updating its software.

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