Report: Samsung Scraps Windows RT Tablet for U.S.

Samsung won't be releasing its Windows RT tablet in the U.S. and it's "unclear" what the South Korean tech giant plans to do with the device in other global markets, according to a report by CNET.

Samsung executive Mike Abary, who runs the company's U.S. PC and tablet operations, told the tech site that plans to release the Ativ Tab were scrapped after feedback from retail partners convinced the company that demand for the Windows RT device wasn't particularly strong.

Samsung did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

Microsoft released Windows RT last year as an ARM-optimized variant of its new flagship operating system Windows 8, which like previous versions of Windows runs on x86 chips made by Intel and Advanced Micro Devices.

Samsung's Ativ Tab was built on Qualcomm's Snapdragon processors, which are based on the ARM architecture. ARM offers a less powerful but also less power-hungry alternative to typical x86 chips, which is why it's come to dominate mobile devices like tablets demanding a processor that can help extend battery life as much as possible.

But Abary told CNET that "[t]here wasn't really a very clear positioning of what Windows RT meant in the marketplace, what it stood for relative to Windows 8, [or] what was being done in an effective manner to the consumer." The executive added that Samsung's own research indicated that educating consumers about the OS would require "a lot of heavy lifting" and a "pretty heavy investment."

Samsung isn't the only Microsoft partner that's been dubious about the new platform.

Last June, Microsoft unveiled its own Windows RT tablet, the Surface , a move that reportedly ticked off hardware partners like Acer and Asus who felt the software giant was shouldering into their turf and potentially upsetting an ecosystem balance that has defined the PC market for years.

Meanwhile, Hewlett-Packard scrapped plans for a Windows RT tablet just a week after Redmond revealed its own plans for the Surface. Microsoft itself admitted last July that the move could be alienating partners.

Released last October and accompanied by an advertising blitz, the Surface RT hasn't performed as well in the market as Microsoft may have liked. The software giant reportedly slashed new orders for the tablet from 4 million to 2 million late last year. In early December, IHS iSuppli projected fourth-quarter Surface RT sales of around 1.3 million units?not too shabby in terms of numbers, but down from more optimistic earlier forecasts.

Microsoft is also planning to release another version of the Surface running Windows 8 Pro and using Intel chips. The Surface Pro is slated for release sometime this month.

For more from Damon, follow him on Twitter @dpoeter.

Source: http://feeds.ziffdavis.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/breakingnews/~3/cMpDyqj9tOw/0,2817,2414221,00.asp

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