Microsoft's Q4 unravels, Surface RT bet flops

JMH · Jul 21, 2013

Microsoft's fourth quarter earnings and sales missed expectations by a wide margin as the PC market slowdown and a writedown of Surface RT inventory painted a bleak picture.

The company reported fourth quarter earnings of $4.97 billion, or 59 cents a share, on revenue of $19.9 billion. The results include a $900 million inventory writedown for Surface RT that amounts to 7 cents a share.

Wall Street was expecting Microsoft to report fourth quarter earnings of 75 cents a share on revenue of $20.73 billion. For the year, Microsoft reported earnings of $2.58 a share on revenue of $77.85 billion.

Microsoft's Q4 unravels, Surface RT bet flops | ZDNet

AceInfinity · Jul 21, 2013

I was impressed by the RT when it came out, but after I found out about the Pro version, it made the RT a complete disappointment for me. I literally have to "hack" into the Surface RT's kernel, just to make it the device that I would like it to be. As for RT vs Pro, it's kind of like the exact same device, only the RT has a padlock on some of the features that the Pro version gives, and I believe the only other really obvious difference is the processor... Minus the differences in storage and whatnot that are a little bit irrelevant.

If I'd had known these differences, I would have waited and saved my money to buy the Pro, but unfortunately I didn't have that option before as the Pro wasn't even out by the time I got my RT. Sad story.

Needless to say I still try to get my use out of the RT, I show it off, and use it for various things, otherwise it would be a waste of roughly $800 for me. :noidea:

My main reason for circumventing the minimum signing level hardcoded into the kernel for my RT, is so that I could try to develop for the ARM processor, desktop applications. Right now, I just view it as a cool toy. Mainly because I have an iPhone already that allows me to get emails... But other than that, as I've heard many other MVP's and even my lead say, the store is lacking, so although the apps are your only choice for the RT, there's not a lot of good quality selection yet.

That's my most honest opinion. I have had people say good things about the Surface RT though when I brought it to work and various other locations to show however. Heck! I even seen a trailer at the Calgary Stampede showing off various Windows products :lol:. I went up and introduced myself. I think they had Windows Phones and the Surface on showcase, mainly.

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Microsoft's Q4 unravels, Surface RT bet flops

JMH

Emeritus, Contributor

AceInfinity

Emeritus, Contributor