Microsoft’s eagerly awaited Surface with Windows 8 Pro hybrid PC device launched today and the 128 GB version immediately sold out at Microsoft Store and other retailers. This suggests that demand for Surface Pro is much higher than many anticipated, given the many months Microsoft had to prepare for this launch.
Surface Pro reviews have been mixed to positive, with most—including my own Microsoft Surface with Windows 8 Pro Review—dinging the device for its lackluster battery life of 4.5 to 5.5 hours, well below that of typical Ultrabooks. But the reaction in tech enthusiast circles, especially those with a decided anti-Microsoft bias, has been almost violent and mocking in its collective reaction to Surface Pro, as it was to Surface Pro’s predecessor, Surface with Windows RT.
The critics will be disappointed to discover that Surface Pro is in fact flying off the shelves, at the least the 128 GB version.
Based on the many emails I’ve received, it paid to shop early online. I heard from several readers who purchased the 128 GB version of the Surface Pro from Microsoft’s online store just after midnight ET and were able to complete the sale. But those who woke up and tried to purchase one at a normal hour were thwarted: The Surface Pro 128 GB is now listed as “out of stock” at the Microsoft Store and Staples. At the time of this writing, Best Buy reports having them for sale, but readers who attempted this purchase tell me this isn’t the case.
Those who show up at Microsoft retail store locations are reporting “Apple-like” lines. I can’t head into my local Microsoft Store because Massachusetts is under a “state of emergency” due to the blizzard that just dumped two feet of snow on the area. But, again, based on email and tweets, there are long lines of people hoping to get the 128 GB version. So head out early or don’t bother.
(Many people are reporting that third party retailers--Best Buy and Staples--had very limited stock of the 128 GB Surface Pro in particular. My sources have told me that this was their fault, not Microsoft's. But regardless of the cause, Microsoft Store locations have more of the devices.)
Still available, of course, are the 64 GB of Surface Pro as well as the many accessories, including the Surface Type Cover, Limited Edition Surface Touch Cover (in three colors/designs), Touch Cover (in five colors), Wedge Touch Mouse Special Edition, Min DisplayPort to VGA Adapter, Surface Mini DisplayPort HD AV Adapter, Surface Pen, and the Surface 48W Power Supply with USB Charging Port. Microsoft also stocks various third party cases and screen protectors.
By the way, my advice is to get the 128 GB version. 64 GB SSD drives were never big enough for reasonable mainstream Windows use, while 128 GB has proven to work well over a long period of time. Plus, Surface Pro is expandable via microSD, which could prove helpful for those with lots of data. I suspect any shortages will be brief, and hopefully Microsoft will manage this better than Google has with its Nexus 4 smart phone, which was basically unavailable over its first two months in the market.
Update: The standard anti-Microsoft movement is busy trying to debunk this story because some Best Buys didn't get many (or even any) Surface Pro units yet. Fair enough. But Microsoft's online store got more than that, so no need to worry about whether this sell-out is genuine. I'm sure they could have sold even more if they could have delivered more to stores.
Update 2: Now, Microsoft has confirmed that its retail partners are already sold out of the 128 GB Surface Pro. "Customer response to the launch of Surface Pro has been amazing," Panos Panay writes. "We’re working with our retail partners who are currently out of stock of the 128GB Surface Pro to replenish supplies as quickly as possible. Our priority is to ensure that every customer gets their new Surface Pro as soon as possible."
Update 3: Now the Microsoft Store online is reporting that the 64 GB Surface Pro is also out of stock. (Update 4: And just like that, it's available again. Fun.)
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Just got back from Best Buy in southeast Michigan. No devices on the shelves yet.
I pre-ordered the 128GB Surface at Best Buy in Jackson MI a week ago. They called me yesterday and I picked it up today. The store only has the keyboards and HDMI dongle. No cases or other accessories. I will say that I installed the Office 2013 Enterprise Edition in just over a minute from a USB 3.0 thumb drive. This is one FAST machine! I'm typing on it for this comment!
I also pre-ordered mine and picked it up from retail store. For accessories have you tried www.kaenaa.com?
It's half the price you will pay in the store for screen/back protection and sleeves.
All sold out in Cleveland, Ohio area. Best Buy, Staples and the Microsoft Store in Beachwood. All gone. 128's AND 64's. Ugh.
All sold out in the Cleveland, Ohio area. Best Buy, Staples and Microsoft Store in Beachwood. All gone. Both the 128's AND the 64's. Ugh.
This, I think, sends a very clear message to the OEM manufacturers.
There is a market for high quality products that has been ignored for far too long. We've suffered through all the crapware ridden PC's, bad drivers, cheap plastic materials, etc.
It feels a bit like taking revenge on the industry, who are now out in the cold selling at cut-throat prices, while looking in at Microsoft who finally shows that it is possible to sell these a better products at a premium.
OEMs are definitely watching, but the message they're looking for is far from clear. They know their business, and they're smart enough to get the right message. They're looking at total sales volumes, gross margins, and return rates. Microsoft has enough cash for Surface to be an AppleTV-style "hobby" for many quarters, much like Xbox was for years. The OEMs don't. If MS doesn't move 3-6 million Surface Pros at a solid margin the message to OEMs will be clear enough, Windows Tablets are a cash sink.
The OEMs aren't smart. They're going to have their lunch eaten over the course of the next few years because most of them can't come up with an interesting design while people are picking up Apple and Samsung tablets and enjoying the experience in the meantime. If I were in those users' shoes, I'd think about a replacement system from one of those companies
Western Suburbs of Chicago is sold out. 1 unit per Best Buy store is what I was told & the Microsoft Store is sold out.
I'm on the road in Ft. Myers right now... and yesterday, I called 5 Staples and 5 Best Buys, each reported they only had 1-2 units in stock per store, ALL of them were 64GB models.
So if you're hoping to buy it from Staples or Best Buy... don't bother. They severely underestimated demand.
If you're lucky and have a Microsoft Store nearby, I agree with Paul... expect a line and short supply.
I do wonder how many were available through the online channels, but I love the overwhelming demand. It's very encouraging.
I was able to secure my order at 12:05am last night. Hopefully, my order will be fulfilled over the weekend as I requested overnight shipping and hope to have it this week when I return home.
It's misleading to say there is a high demand for the Surface Pro just because none is available on the market. I called around the Stapes and Best Buys in my area, and all of them told me that they received only one or two 128s from MS to sell. No wonder they're sold out! What's up with that, MS? You get everybody all geared up for this new machine, you promote the hell out of it, and then you don't distribute it except minimally. I don't know about you, but I feel manipulated. And still they offer no explanation. It smells to me like they found a flaw in the machine and are holding it back until they figure out how to fix it.
I agree, I find this "Sold Out" thing is misrepresenting the fact that here in Florida I couldn't confirm with any store they got a 128gb surface besides the microsoft store in Orlando. My best buy in Tampa only had one surface, a 64gb and they only received one surface in total.
Saying best buy is sold out because they only had one in stock is ridiculous. Microsoft really screwed the pooch on this one. One surface per Best Buy is insane.
Folks - I think you are all wrong about this - at least for Best Buy. The manager helped me snag the only 128 they got, and he told me it was corporate that decided how many each store got. And I visited our local Staples - they not only got none, they hadn't even opened the floor display materials which were sitting on the floor, UNOPENED, with a sign on the side which said "Set up by 1/29/2013" Even the retailers are clueless!
dalestrauss - You got it exactly right! Corporate decided stock numbers...not Microsoft.
Microsoft needs to do a better job of counteracting these complaints. And not that MS doesn't add to these horror stories with its own rollout miscues.
Third-party stores' staff regularly diss Microsoft / Windows products in favor of...yep..Apple and/or third-party manufacturers product that offers Corporate a bigger profit margin (even if it is loaded with crapware). And then customers and vendors blame MS.
SmartPhone vendors have been the biggest bottleneck for Windows Phones too. No stock and recommendations against buying. This is slowly changing as Microsoft is pushing products via consumer advertising.
Microsoft needs to greatly expand its retail stores and expand its consumer advertising...and keep making superior products.
"There you go again." Blaming Microsoft for retail Corporate decision to buy 'x-number' units for Surface rollout.
Same Corporate management that didn't train sales staff to properly sell Surface RT which garnered returned units. And they promote selling crapware loaded devices because of higher profit margins but destry the Windows OOBE.
I'd like to believe this, but shouldn't we wait for actual sales figures before drawing sweeping conclusions?
Do you have any actual evidence of this? It appears to me that the 128 Gb model simply didn't arrive in time for launch. Given Microsoft's track record, I find that much easier to believe than it sold out. Certainly no one else is reporting lines. It appears that no Surface Pro's whatsoever showed up for the launch at all Best Buy stores in my area.
That makes this launch as successful as the Surface RT, which also sold out right away. Probably shouldn't make a big deal about early sales. That will just come back to bite you in the rear. A few weeks later, you will just have to retreat to the line that big sales son't matter.
I had to wait in line a while at the local big box store to try the surface pro floor model. It's, ummm, quite magical. The handwriting recognition (for note-taking) is superb... no other solutions come close to what MS has accomplished (and I mean the big fruit behemoth), so I'm getting one as soon as I can find one. Too bad I'm a lousy artist... I bet drawing on it would be neat too.
Probably less a case of being sold and more having severely limited stock in the first place, at least for BB and Staples sales. The MS store I went to said they had about 150 and that's in the heart of DC so it seems to me there wasn't really that much stock to begin with, for whatever reason.
At least at B&M stores.
Best Buy had only (2) 64GB models, Staples and a few 64gb also which sold out in 1 hour. Neither had any 128 models here in Florida. In Orlando Microsoft Retail Store they received only 150 units which all were sold out. They also took "reservations" for 50 of those units which did not go public before today.
Microsoft needs more stock in the local stores! I can't find any 128GB models.The presumption of selling well or just low in-hand stock?
0 - 2 units per store is not a launch. That's just ridiculous planning. How disappointing.
I am sure we will find out if it was good launch if Microsoft supplies some count.
I was at Staples (in MI) last week and they had the Suface and accesories in its own display. This of course had a Surface RT at the time, which I am sure was also going to accomodate the Surface Pro. Also, their dsiplay of 25 different laptops running Windows 8 actually had two that was touch enabled. This was up from zero last month. I am still surprised there are not more.
I really wanted Surface Pro and was too late when I went to MS on-line this morning. Called around to Best Buy and MS stores. No luck. Everyone (including MS) underestimated the demand for this computer based on the dismal sales of Surface RT. No one wanted that device! Those of us who travel WANT the capabilites of Pro--and we're willing to pay for it.
Don't read anything into this until we find out how many they actually had.
For all we know they only made about 7 of the things.
Considering that there are 1,900 Staples stores and 1,105 Best Buy stores, at two per store, that would be (1,900+1,105)*2=6,010 tablets. Gee, I'm excited Paul, I clearly must be wrong about Microsoft's abject failure in tablet space. :-)
Two things.
1. Stop being a dick. I'll just stop OKing these kinds of pointless comments.
2. I assume you've seen the comments about 150+ units being sent to stores. So whatever.
Actually, 3. Don't respond.
+1
It's a PC in tablet form factor.
I got mine at a Best Buy in Tulsa, Oklahoma. But it was the only one they had. There were other people there after me asking for it. I went in as soon as they opened the door. And I had stopped by the day before to have them hold it for me. I feel like Best Buy got scared because of lackluster Surface RT sales and didn't order hardly any.
I hate to break it to you Paul, but whoever is emailing you, is mislead. Not a single Best Buy in my state received a 128gb OR 64gb. And all three of the Staples I contacted only received 2 64GB units each. And if you check Reddit, this is not an isolated situation. They aren't "sold out" at most places, they just never even existed.
And I hate to break it to YOU, but I'll take my anecdotal reports from people who did buy 128 GB units over yours that they don't exist.
That's fine. I'm glad one or two MS stores in the country got them. Not sure how that justifies them delaying the launch to begin with for Best Buy and Staples, if Best Buy and Staples don't actually have any to sell. Believe me or not, it will be all over the internet in a matter of hours.
Paul, as you know, Mass, RI, CT were all in snow emergencies Until 4PM on Saturday. Police were actively pulling non emergency traffic off the road as the Governor closed the roads state wide. According to the Best Buy web site, the only stores in all of New England that had any in stock at 4:00 PM today ( I checked! ) was the Warrick Rhode Island store, and they only had 64GB models.
I checked with my local Staples at 5pm and they did have the 64GB model in stock, but they didn't get any 128GB models.
I couldn't check my local Microsoft Store as Simon Malls were closed all day due to the storm. I am planning to hit them when they open tomorrow morning and see if they have any in stock.
I know the 128GB model does exist, but they seem to be very scarce. Surface supplies in general to Non-MS stores in New England is really thin. Given that the roads in the region were shut down since Friday night and only a single store had any models at all before the roads were re-opened it's a bit hard to believe that they just are selling out. There seems to be an extreme supply shortage, at least in this region.
I am looking because I actually want one of the 128gb models to replace my Asus EP121. I use my tablet heavily at work using One Note to take notes at meetings with a pen based tablet and I am looking for something with a higher resolution.
Just as an Update. The Salem NH store did have the 128GB Pro. I am now getting the feeling that non Microsoft stores just didn't get many units. I don't know if that's Microsoft's doing or not, but as I said earlier, none of the Best Buys around here got any at all, and the local Staples only got the 64GB version.
I spoke with the head of the computer department at my Best Buy in Canada (Calgary, to be specific) for a good 10 minutes. I was waiting 45 minutes before they opened. He was supposed to get 5 64GB and 3 128GB units but they will not arrive until tomorrow afternoon. I imagine stock in the east coast (see: larger) cities was better.
Oh well. I ordered mine on the MS store when I got home. Hopefully I get it by next Friday.
I ordered a Surface 128 from the Microsoft Store online just after midnight last night. After calling a few Best Buy's and Staples yesterday and being sorely dissapointed of the 128 availability and stores stating they wouldn't be in for a couple of weeks I figured that would be the safest option.
Well, I'm envious of all of you guys that at least had a shot at seeing one! We have about 30 inches of snow here in Connecticut, so I'm going to have to wait. Oh well.
As for the shortages: isn't this a given in the consumer electronics industry? Seems to me that every desirable device is constrained at launch these days.
Local Best Buy in Dublin (SF Bay Area) got only 7 units.
Well, when Microsoft only gives the stores 2 of them, of course they will sell out! Nice marketing BS Microsoft!!!
@everyone: Sorry about my earlier comment. I'm upset not being able to get one today and will now have to wait for some period of time before I can. I think a lot of us that weren't able to get the 128GB today are mad at microsoft because limited stock but not anything beyond that. This is the same type of anger we see when iphones are sold out.
I'm disappointed and hope microsoft can get these in stock quickly. But it doesn't change the fact that people are wanting these, I'm sure the employees at best buy, staples and Microsoft are probably tired of saying over the phone "we have none in stock".
One more note, I don't believe this is a problem of microsoft not predicting demand, but more about they just couldn't make enough since it was released for production in till now.
It will be interesting to how Microsoft hypes this. Will they pull an Amazon and simply report how great Surface Pro sales were without giving an actual number?
And they would sell more units if they released the Surface RT/Pro in other countries... any idea of when is MS going to offer us a chance of buying them in "the rest of the World"???
The same goes for WinPhone 8: in Mexico we still have no Word of any new units from Nokia/HTC/Samsung.
i love it... the thing that really suprised me, and i am so suprised PAUL or any other site has not spoke of this, is hen i entered in my windows id it configured my computer for me. even the 3 email accounts i had on my older computer.. wow that was a fast set up. i was expecting to spend all weekend on this! the speaker is no existent, but i found this $15 speaker at Staples called SCOSCHE that s perfect. small, the size of maybe two marshmallows on top of each other and the sound really knocked me out. it plugs into the usb ort for power and the 3.5 for audio.. it works fine for me. the battery is rechargeable...
I bought a 128GB version in Toronto. It seems like the MS stores got the most units(which makes sense). I showed up at 9:30 and got one of the last ones. They had 25 units beyond the reserved ones. Yorkdale had 50 beyond reserved, or so one employee said. Only thing pissing me off is the damned charger. Cable need an extra 3 feet. Device itself is kickass. I'm typing this right now lying down in bed with the keyboard folded back and kickstanx out. I'm surprised how easy it is. Wouldn't type an essay this way but for light stuff and email it is very doable. Goodbye ThinkPad! One thing that seems impossible this way is doing shift+right-click to run various admin tools as another user. Seem to need to use the keyboard for that unfortunately. I also think a swipe from bottom should bring keyboard up instead of having to hit the button on taskbar.
Went to Staples here in Fort Smith, Arkansas and when I walked up to look at the Surface Pro, the salesman immediately informed me that they were already sold out. Not something that I would have expected here.
Oh and I'm running at 125DPI and glad Paul wasn't calling the shots on the project. You definitely notice the difference in the crispness of text. Now that I have a high PPI screen on phone. It bugs me when I don't have one especially since I'll be using this to read a lot of technical books. And bonus for being able to use kickstand to have book visible while I'm on my desktop.
Paul,
No doubts here on the validity of the story. I'm in Santa Barbara, CA and waited in the morning at Best Buy to pick a 128 up (I was told earlier in the week and confirmed yesterday that they'd receive them). Despite being first in line and feeling confident, they had 0 in stock at opening.
I chased a group of people to the 2 Staples we have here and both received 1 64GB, which sold immediately. Nobody has any information on if or when any 128 models will be received today or in the near future. For a general release date, one would assume at least some models would be received in the area. All the managers I've spoken to are blaming MS, but I suppose it could easily be a distribution problem too. The point is, there's definitely demand in this area that would have blown out very quickly if retailers had any inventory.
However, I'm bitter just like everyone else. It just seems silly to put this date out there, and then deliver... This. But I'm coming to grips that I'm going to have to wait a bit to get my hands on one... Which, taken in the proper context, is a genuine case of a first world problem.
Moreover, bravo to MS for creating a product that people are feeling this passionate about. I'd say (in my un-learned opinion) that we have a hit on our hands.
What is really amazing is that any good news about Microsoft such as any kind of sell out, there are just as many people out there who just have to find a negative spin to it. I never see that with Apple, or Google or any other company. If Apple sells out, people take that as fact, if Microsoft sell out, then people think the numbers are fake or the company is lying or just use any other excuse. Who are these people?