Toshiba has decided void the manufacture of tablets with Windows RT even though Computex had recently introduced a prototype in the past. They say they will focus on developing tablets based on Intel's x86 chips and are abandoning the version of Windows 8 for ARM chips for the time being. So the Japanese brand joins HP in declining one of Microsoft's future bets.
It seems that the reasons are different from those of Hewlett Packard. The American company refused to make tablets with Windows RT because it believed that consumers did not want these types of devices not being able to have all the traditional Windows applications.
In the case of Toshiba it seems that the cause is a problem of delay in the supply of components that prevents them from having the devices manufactured on the dates they believed were appropriate for the market. Thus, according to one of its spokesmen in the US, Toshiba will focus on producing Windows 8 tablets for the time being, although they will be attentive to the possibilities that the market offers in the future to introduce a Windows RT tablet.
Toshiba had announced, before withdrawing from this project, that it would use ARM processors from Texas Instruments. We understand that they will not be happy, just like Microsoft who sees how their project does not receive uniform support.
The truth is that the news is rare given that Toshiba has produced devices with chips with ARM architecture but for the Android operating system, although they did not have great commercial success.
And it is that there seem to be many positions between the habitual partners of Microsoft in front of this change of strategy of the computer giant. Surface has brought a lot of controversy and no one seems to explain their real motivations for deciding whether or not to use Windows RT.
Acer, for example, says it will start making devices with Windows RT next year, after introducing a Windows 8 device and openly criticizing Microsoft's decision to launch the Surface. This decision is covered with caution in the face of uncertainty.
While Dell, Lenovo and Samsung will choose to explore both options And they have already announced that they will create both Windows RT tablets with ARM chips and Windows 8 tablets with Intel chips.
Asus has already presented a very interesting Windows RT device at Computex, the Asus Transformer 600.
Nobody seems to be clear about how these tablets will work in the market, Microsoft has made a somewhat risky bet because it is ambiguous. It is difficult for consumers to understand why they maintain an old structure where all their classic applications work and at the same time they launch this breakthrough bet that is Windows RT where only Metro applications work. Therefore, manufacturers can only try to predict how the consumer will behave, something that in this case seems very difficult.
Source: Bloomberg