Microsoft is undeterred by abysmal sales of its Surface RT device and aims to double down on its line of Windows tablets, if comments made by the CEO of partner company Nvidia are accurate.
Speaking to CNET, Nvidia's Jen-Hsun Huang said that his company, which makes the chips that power the Surface RT, is "working really hard" on the "second-generation Surface." He also suggested that the inclusion of Outlook, absent at launch for the original Surface RT, would result in far greater sales.
It is true that the initial lack of productivity apps like Outlook tempered consumer enthusiasm for the Surface devices, though a mixed response to Windows 8's radical redesign of the familiar desktop also contributed. Poor sales of the Surface devices (the RT was released in October 2012, the Pro in January of this year) resulted in a massive write-down in Microsoft's latest earnings statement, announced July 18.
The company hinted earlier in July that updates were coming to the tablet line, and cut the price of the Surface RT from $500 to $350 just before its earnings announcement, and a week ago the Surface Pro's price tag dropped by $100.
When contacted via email for comment on Huang's remarks, a Microsoft spokesperson wrote "We have nothing to share."
Devin Coldewey is a contributing writer for NBC News Digital. His personal website is coldewey.cc.