Windows RT has never quite had the reception Microsoft wanted, with many critics panning it for its continued performance issues.
Manufacturers also have not quite taken to the OS as well as Microsoft would have hoped, with several key partners cancelling their RT tablets before they even hit the market.
The ailing operating system has also failed to connect with customers, with Microsoft’s own Surface RT supposedly having sold only 1.5 million units.
Microsoft latest move could be seen as an act of desperation, as it has reportedly cut the price of Windows RT for manufacturers, as a way of spurring them into developing an ARM-based tablet.
It was rumoured earlier this year that Microsoft was planning on offering discounts on both Windows and Office products as an incentive for building smaller tablets, like the Iconia W3.
Initial restrictions on manufacturers of both the tablets and chips, included a strict policy that chip manufacturers were only allowed to partner with one PC manufacturer. Acer Chairman, J.T Wang called Microsoft’s control “troublesome”.
These restrictions are now to be lifted, if reports are to be believed, with Nvidia supplying chips to Asus and Lenovo, while Qualcomm will supply HP and Samsung, and Texas Instruments will partner with Toshiba.
In an interview with CNET, Microsoft’s corporate vice president Michael Angiulo defended the OS as a “necessary disruption”, but that hasn’t stopped Samsung from halting its plans for an RT tablet launch in the US and some parts of Europe.
Source: The Verge
