Samsung may be done selling Windows RT devices in Europe, according to reports out of CeBIT. Company executives in attendance at the show have gone on record as saying that there’s simply not enough demand to continue. Existing stock of the ATIV Tab Windows RT tablet will continue to be sold, but once those units are gone that’s it. Of course, with demand being as weak as it is you may still be able to buy Samsung’s Windows RT slate for quite some time.
It was already clear at CES 2013 that Samsung wasn’t fully convinced that Windows RT was going to be a hit with consumers. Samsung opted not to sell the ATIV Tab in the U.S. and instead offered up the ATIV Smart PC with an Atom processor and full-on Windows 8. When the company could do that for $599 anyway, why bother with a device with the crippled Windows RT operating system? There were plenty of reasons not to — consumer confusion being one of the most obvious. Samsung may not have wanted to gamble on increased returns and tech support calls from users that thought they had purchased an actual Windows device.
And right now for Samsung, it’s the company’s Galaxy line that shoppers are excited about. Samsung already has several hit tablets on its hands that run Android — a tablet OS that has a solid track record. Windows RT remains unproven, and even Microsoft’s own Surface tablet appears to be struggling to achieve any real success against the competition.
Samsung had said before that it wasn’t closing the door on Windows RT completely. But if reports that Microsoft is dropping prices on Windows 8 and Office licensing for touchscreen devices are true, Samsung will have even less motivation to take the risk — particularly if it’s able to drive costs down with additional supply chain deals like the one struck with Sharp.
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