Microsoft announced it would slash the prices of all its Surface RT tablets because sales have fallen.
Each model of the RT tablet will have a discount of $150 as Microsoft attempts to bring in more customer in the increasingly competitive tablet market that has been dominated by giants Apple and Samsung.
The website for Microsoft on Sunday had the least expensive RT tablet prices at only $349, which was down from the original price of $499. That particular tablet has 32GB of memory.
The 64GB version of the RT without a keyboard/cover was selling for $599 and will now be only $449. The same tablet with the keyboard/cover will be discounted from $699 to only $549.
The sales volume for the tablets is not what some had expected, but others blame Microsoft for not better clarifying what the advantages were for purchasing a Surface RT that runs on Windows.
The Surface RT does not operate software programs that are older such as Quicken and iTunes, which only the more expensive Surface Pro can operate. That has upset some purchasers of the tablet and some potential purchasers.
Only 900,000 tablets were sold during the first quarter of 2013, while in comparison, the Apple iPad sold over 19.5 million during the same three months.
Microsoft, prior to announcing its new discounts, attempted to attract customers by offering the keyboard/cover free with the purchase of the Surface RT, however that was not as successful as the company had hoped.
