Apparently, the trend is moving to a far more “higher capacity” tablet, as people are obviously demanding more Gigabytes of storage in their tablets. The Microsoft Surface Pro’s very large 128 GB model sold out just HOURS after launch. Considering the tablet goes for a nice $1,000, this should have other tablet-makers, especially Apple, considerably worried. It’s DEFINITELY going to change some manufacturing and design decisions made by the large companies in the near future. Namely, the question, “Are people willing to pay extra for a tablet that features more Gigabytes of storage?” has been answered with a resounding “Yes!”.
Obviously people aren’t standing in line to get the mid-range GB models, as it seems that the 64 Gig model, still hasn’t sold out yet, and of course, it’s still on sale at retail stores all over the US.
One thing that’s interesting is that this device seems to be completely sold out in many retail stores as well, which begs the question, did Microsoft just not make enough of these, is this some kind of a publicity stunt to gain attention for it’s 128 GB model, or are people genuinely making a mad-dash to get their hands on one of these?
While many people are screaming “Fake”, it is true that this tablet is running on Windows 8, and so it’s perhaps the closest tablet to a desktop computer, or laptop, that’s come out in history. The Surface Pro is doing an excellent job here, bridging the cap between the two, and that could be what’s responsible for the kind of sales they’re seeing on this 128 GB model. There could just be a massive demand for tablets that perform and function basically as a smaller, more compact laptop with a touch screen, as opposed to Apple’s “big iPhone with no phone” idea of what tablets should be. There’s no doubt about it, being able to run any application you can run on a normal Windows machine, is a HUGE advantage.
It’s also noteworthy, that this new tablet can run applications that large IT-departments actually rely upon, so it’s quite possible that larger companies were ordering several of these such tablets to hand over to their employees, which could be part of the reason for the huge amount of sales the Surface Pro we saw early on.
It seems as though it’s the “middle-tier” tablets, that are seeing the most unpopularity, as the Surface Pro’s smaller, 32 GB model, that goes for only half the price of the 128GB model, sold out as well, within one day. This continues a trend that suggests that some people just want a cheap tablet solution for handling certain things. These trends make sense, because it seems some people are buying tablets as an “extra” more portable device, while others are purchasing them as their primary portable computers, as a replacement to their laptops.
We’ll have to see how the trends continue, but as of right now, if you’re looking to get your hands on a 128 GB Surface Pro, your best bet is to try and go to a local retail store, like Best Buy, or Staples, and hope that you can get one there, but you can forget ordering one online directly from Microsoft for a little while.