Well, well, well, more Surface news it seems. While all eyes were on where Microsoft would next release its Surface Pro tablet, most believed the next destination would be the European market, or at least the United Kingdom.
But apparently, China has taken precedence for Redmond as it gears up to launch its flagship tablet in the country on April 2. The details were posted on Microsoft’s Weibo account — think of it as the Chinese equivalent of Twitter.
Redmond started selling the Surface Pro tablet early February, and the United States and Canada are currently the only two countries where the slate is available for grabs.
Surprising as it may seem, it is not much of a shocker really, once you think about the fact that China is (arguably) the biggest market in the world. Microsoft, itself, has been quite actively expanding its retail reach in the country in recent past.
The company, as you may recall, recently announced a deal to open an online Microsoft Store on China’s largest online shopping site, Tmall.com, where it intends to sell both hardware and software products.
Having said that, it is worth noting that Microsoft has been comparatively slower in expanding the retail availability of Surface Pro — compared to the Surface RT, that is.
Surface RT launched in eight countries back in October (including China), expanded into 13 new markets soon after, and just recently went live both in New Zealand and Japan.
Nevertheless, with this out of the way, it is perhaps reasonable to expect the technology titan will now set its eyes soon on the vitally important European market, particularly the United Kingdom.
If you are one of our UK readers still waiting for the Surface Pro, then by all means share your thoughts, frustration and anticipation in the comments below. You’ll be glad you did.
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Hurry up, Microsoft. I thought they wanted more market share for Win 8
Blame EU for the unfriendly ruling on MS.