Surface 2 and Surface Pro 2 now available for pre-order
As Microsoft announced at its launch event yesterday, the new Surface 2 and Surface Pro 2 tablets are now available for pre-order, with shipments expected for October 21st. The Surface 2 starts at $449 for the 32GB model, while the 64GB version is $549.
Context & Ripple Effects
The Surface 2 launch preview four days earlier set expectations, and yesterday's event delivered: pre-orders are open today with shipments slated for October 21, putting the second-generation tablets on shelves well before the holiday quarter. It is the follow-up to a rough first act — the original RT machine began reaching customers in early 2012 per the Surface 2.0 shipping note, and this refresh is Microsoft's attempt to reset demand around revised hardware.
The syndication footprint is unusually wide for a product-availability story — eWeek, PC World, Geek News Central, the New Yorker and others all ran it — which says more about how much attention rides on whether Surface v2 sells than about the news itself.
First-order effects
- Buyers can lock in a Surface 2 at $449 (32GB) or $549 (64GB) starting today, with Microsoft's retail and online channels getting their first real demand read before the October 21 shipment date.
- Surface Pro 2 joins the same pre-order window, giving Microsoft two price tiers aimed at different buyers — consumption-focused tablet shoppers versus laptop-replacement customers.
Second-order effects
- The confirmed Corporate Buyback promotion offering up to $350 in credit for iPhones and iPads functions as a subsidized switching incentive stacked on top of the new lineup — Microsoft is paying to pull buyers out of Apple's installed base rather than waiting for organic upgrades.
Third-order effects
- If the October sales figures disappoint again, the pattern points toward deeper price intervention and a compressed refresh cadence for the Surface line — and toward PC OEMs watching ever more closely as Microsoft's first-party hardware competes with their own Windows devices each cycle.
The trend: Microsoft is institutionalizing Surface as an annually refreshed first-party hardware line, using subsidies and bundled promotions to buy relevance in a tablet market dominated by Apple and Android vendors.