Microsoft cuts Surface 2 price by $100, hinting at successor or discontinuation
Surface 2 prices slashed, hinting at discontinuation or replacement — Microsoft has cut $100 off the price of its Surface 2 Windows RT tablets. This puts the cheapest 32GB unit at $349, the 64GB unit at $449 …
Context & Ripple Effects
Microsoft had already used price reductions to reposition its tablet line: the 2013 Surface RT cut to $349 was followed by further discounts on Surface Pro, including Surface Pro 2 reductions ahead of Surface 3 availability. The Surface 2 move extends that pattern across the Windows RT branch rather than establishing a one-off promotion.
First-order effects
- Microsoft lowers the Surface 2 entry price to $349, immediately improving its price position for buyers while reducing revenue per unit at list price.
- The discount puts Surface 2 inventory under a transition signal: Microsoft has not confirmed whether the model will be replaced or discontinued.
Second-order effects
- Lower-priced Surface 2 units narrow the price gap within Microsoft's own tablet range, forcing the company to distinguish the RT model from discounted Surface Pro hardware on more than price.
- The repeated use of cuts around Surface lineup changes trains channel partners and buyers to treat late-cycle Surface pricing as a clearance mechanism rather than a stable list-price commitment.
Third-order effects
- If Microsoft continues to use discounts to manage each Surface generation change, tablet hardware becomes a portfolio-management tool for moving inventory and segmenting buyers, with software compatibility carrying more of the differentiation burden.
- The RT line's position becomes structurally harder to sustain if its clearest lever is price while the Pro range also receives transition-period discounts.
The trend: Microsoft's Surface strategy is trending toward using successive price cuts to manage product transitions across overlapping tablet tiers.