Despite the sad story with the Surface RT, they still haven't given up on the ARM.
I'm beginning to see MS as a hard to steer ship. Once they decided to set course on something, its practically very hard to make them turn to back or turn to the side which is a HUGE problem if they are bound to hit an iceberg. They just become "too committed" on something even if the initial uptake isn't so good.
If the huge price of ARM powered devices is a drawback, MS should try to make some nice entry-level devices with considerably lower prices upon release compared to that of Apple and Androids if they wanted to stand a chance against them. These devices do not need to have the best of specs cause that'll cost more to make but it would be a great bonus if its packed with something interesting that even the non-techie crowd would perceive as cool. This is where innovation should take its place. And if they do establish some recognition with these cheaper devices, then that would be the time to release the slightly more expensive breed of these devices with better specs and so on.
I have seen a local brand do that in our place. They were really a small player on the Android world at first but their devices released last year gained some reputation (with the help of endorsements on a famous TV program and a celebrity) and 2 months ago, they started releasing a wave of newer devices with better specs, some of which had higher prices but still way less expensive than Samsung counterparts and now they give some nice discounts on their older batch of devices. I suspect many of those that had the older devices are tempted on this new batch because the brand has established a trust factor in them and because they are cheaper than Samsung or Apple. Other minor players are also still there in the line of cheaper devices. Competition seems to remain healthy. I guess this trust factor matters a lot and it has played out pretty well for Apple and Samsung that's why they remain on top today.
Well for the Surface Pro or the Surface RT, those hardly make any buzz in our country but Samsung and Apple sure do. In fact, every spoiled brat on any rich family either has a Samsung SIII/IV or an iPhone and many had the silly tablet too which they use for you know what, some silly games and silly posts on social media. Silly devices are built for silly things but it pours down a lot of money. And its the cheaper Android devices that dominate those who could not afford produce from the fruit company.
I'm not saying that pushing with the ARM architecture is entirely a bad thing. Its just, the price is not for the masses. MS is not like Samsung or Apple that has already established a trend and have huge app universes with a lot of developer and fanboy support backing those up. And another mistake MS did was they made so many Surface RT devices in the first place rather than just investing on enough units to be used as bait to see if the market would bite it. MS should test and release some ARM devices but it should not be their top priority as far as mobile and touchscreen devices should go. They better re-work their advertising methods too. And hopefully, they don't make the same mistake they had on the Surface RT if they would release new ARM devices. Their arrogance has taken a huge toll on them and unless they learn to dance the tune, they would remain a target for critics. I personally hate the way they tried to incorporate the flattish "Metro/Modern" design on their websites. Should they hold on to their arrogance and keep making the same mistakes, that would now be stupidity on their part.