Although Microsoft has only recently gone public with information that Surface had been a busted flush, Microsoft has known the grisly details for far longer. The information must have come to light quickly from all manner of telemetry and intelligence vectors that what they'd put out there was not looking like it was headed for success.
And yet Microsoft has said nothing about what's happening with "Surface v2". That's odd, right? I think if I'd shipped a "company-saving" product that turned out to be very poor, I think I'd be up there talking up the next version.