Microsoft’s Surface lineup is about to get a lot less interesting, as the company is reportedly ditching many of its less tablet-and-laptop-oriented Surface products. This includes the Surface Headphones, which were allegedly going to get a new update this year, but won’t now, and the Surface Duo smartphone.
This development comes shortly after the sudden and unexpected departure of head Surface evangelist Panos Panay from the company. Panay immediately made the move to Amazon, which had its own hardware showcase this week.
The news is obviously sad for Surface enthusiasts who liked the brand’s knack for occasionally getting freaky with it. The Surface Headphones were very solid over-ear cans, and the Surface Duo 2 managed to come together into something worth using. But evidently that wasn’t enough for Microsoft, a company that, fairly or not, is more concerned with the bottom line than being known for daring design.
It’s unclear at this point what Microsoft’s long-term plans are for the Surface lineup. The company is still committed to its core Surface products, such as the Surface Laptop Studio and Surface Pro, but it’s clear that it’s not interested in pursuing more experimental devices.
This is likely due to a number of factors, including the fact that Microsoft has lost money on its Surface hardware business in recent years. The company is also facing increasing competition from other hardware manufacturers, such as Apple and Samsung.
The sources for this piece include an article in Mashable.
