“Five days after Microsoft Corp. opened preorders for its first-ever laptop, the Surface Book has sold out,” Jennifer Booton reports for marketWatch. “The 13.5-inch device, which Microsoft has compared to Apple Inc.’s Macbook Pro, headlined Microsoft’s product event on Oct. 6 and immediately went on sale on the company’s website.”
“‘We’ve seen strong demand for Surface Book and have sold out of pre-order supply for October 26 availability,’ a company spokesperson said,” Booton reports. “This doesn’t necessarily mean there has been an overwhelming surge in demand for Microsoft’s first laptop. It could also mean the company did not provide sufficient supply, likely protecting itself after its embarrassing $900 million writedown in 2013 for the Surface RT.”
MacDailyNews Take: Microsoft “sold out” of the five units they made for their little demo.
“‘It’s always hard to know whether a device is sold out because of overwhelming demand or underwhelming supply. I suspect in this case it’s the latter,’ said Jan Dawson, chief analyst at Jackdaw Research,” Bootn reports. “‘All depends on how many they have ordered,’ said Richard Windsor, an analyst at Edison Equity Research. ‘Being out of stock right after launch is a classic marketing trick pioneered by Apple.'”
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Of course, despite supply constraints, Apple then goes on to sell 74.5 million in the 3 months following the launch.
Good luck pulling off the real magic of Apple’s so-called “classic marketing trick,” Microsoft.
All 4,000 of them
That’s to generous. More like a dozen or so. LOL
I don’t know… There are many people who are expressing amazement about this new Microsoft device. It is entirely possible that they may sell well initially… until those who bought them begin to realise that it is still Windows (and Microsoft)…
Yeah, hard to say. I tend to not buy into MS’ “sold out” claims much. Without numbers, it means squat. Hey – if it’s selling huge, post up those sales MS.
Can’t remember when last Microsoft didn’t make such a claim for a New product starting with the Zune I believe so let’s say I am less than convinced.
Does anyone know who the musical headliner group is of the accompanying free concert tickets with each surface book sold that MS has used in the past to generate interest?!?
Astroturfers like yourself inhabit a special level of afterlife punishment.
Yeah, spend eternity with you!
???
I’m trying hard to figure out where you got an ‘astroturfer’…? You are clearly not from around here.
Really shitnozzle? I’ve been posting here for more than 5 years. Troll harder.
Apparently you are clueless; Predrag has been here for quite some time. You are the one looking like a “shitnozzle” troll.
bpondo – yeh, you’ve posted a long time – and you’re not usually such as asshole. Get a grip.
Don’t forget a lot of well and long time conditioned MS users… Many of those won’t even think about Apple products as “serious alternative” to their usual busyness.
Untill those who bought them realize that they don’t even resemble iPads, don’t do anything like or as well as iPads and they have few, if any, real apps
I was under the impression it would run anything the desktop Windows 10 would..
Ooooh that’s a new revolution now, isn’t it?
I’m going to be getting one, or both. My daughter just “borrowed” one of my laptops.
SP3 did sell well, though not at Apple levels. There may indeed be some traction. But in the end, as a customer without a financial stake, ho cares?
Really? A financial stake in what?
In MS.
In 2009, the Zune music player was also reported to be “sold out” from ALL resellers. Fast forward. Two years later it was discontinued due to lack of sales.
Sleaze marketing. Way to go MS. 😛
In my town the Microsoft retail store keeps getting boarded up because mall staff always assume it’s abandoned.
So how’s the weather in Cupertino these days?
Yeah sort of like prematurely burying someone you think is dead without asking first. The death-stench and rigor mortis is there, along with the flies and crickets, so it’s an easy assumption to make.
Numbers Please!
BFD headline if the number for sale was miniscule.
Or, on the other hand, Microsoft (with their much greater experience in the corporate market) did enough research and got it right this time.
IPad Pro appears to be aimed at Apple’s long standing strength in design – not corporate customers. Microsoft’s base has different needs.
The other possibility is that Microsoft’s sales force pre-sold a few large corporate customers.
MS is a large ship and changing the culture from that of a monopolist to almost a startup (which they still are in mobile) is a Herculean task. Ballmer rode the monopolist wave and was incapable of understanding that change was required, let lone what change was required. The new guy gets it…
What you say is theoretically possible. The sales figures will prove or disprove it. Me, I doubt that the new guy will be able to turn around M$.
Gee, my IT buddies and I all ordered them because we need them for our jobs and we had to fight off all the tech writers who ordered them just to return them.
Mind you, I guess some people will only buy MS Surface Books because they like the shape of the plastic stand. They may not have actually looked at the device itself.
I might be wrong, but I feel Windows is finally wising up. they are finally making the hardware and software. Which is one of the reasons Apple products works so well. I still will probably buy an iPad pro because i am in the apple ecosystem, but if i had to switch I know what I would go with….Windows Surface.
They just shipped them all to Zimbabwe.