Before the BUILD 2014 conference, many media outlets were pretty sure that Microsoft was going to announce the Surface Mini tablet at the event. Then it came and we only got the Surface Pro 3, plus a lot of questions regarding the lack of a new slate with a small diagonal. Is cancellation is reconfirmed today, as Microsoft publishes its quarterly earnings report.
A note in the hardware section of the company’s earnings report mentions that a decision has been taken to not ship a new form factor. That’s most likely the Surface Mini and it’s not yet clear if the product has been canned for good, or its launch has been merely delayed. Microsoft is said to have given up on the announcement of the tablet at the last minute, but the product could be delayed till 2015.
One of the reasons for doing that was the fact that the company didn’t feel that the new Surface slate could differentiate itself from rivals like the iPad Mini units or the Nexus 7 2013 model, for example. Not to mention the Xiaomi Mi Pad and even some other cool Intel-based tablets from China. One thing they could do to stand out from the crowd is use that cool magnesium case and also bundle a comfy keyboard with the Surface Mini.
