Microsoft’s Surface lineup has suffered another setback with the quiet discontinuation of the Surface Laptop Studio 2. While Microsoft has not officially declared the device dead, the company has told resellers that production has stopped.

One likely reason for the Surface Laptop Studio 2’s discontinuation is weak sales. Although the device has a creative design and features, it may not have sold well enough to keep production going. It targeted content creators and creative professionals directly, but that only limits it to a smaller audience, which would alienate everyone else. Unlike most laptops, it had an adjustable hinge that could place the screen at flatter or completely flat angles relative to the keyboard.

This is not just the end of a product, but seemingly the end of the effort to take this space. The Surface Laptop Studio 2 does not have a planned replacement, like a Surface Laptop Studio 3. So, Microsoft may have decided that this specialized product category should be avoided instead of just pausing for a refresh. We believe this even more because Microsoft isn’t shy about releasing replacement models, and recently released new Surface Laptop and Surface Pro.

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The new Surface Pro and Surface Laptop, which run on Qualcomm Snapdragon processors, are more closely competing with Apple with better power efficiency and battery life. However, these Snapdragon-powered Surface devices are less powerful than previous Intel or AMD-based models and come with a higher price tag.

This may mean that Microsoft wants to target a different part of the market with its new Snapdragon lineup. This would make sense if the Surface Laptop Studio 2’s target audience wasn’t buying enough devices to warrant a continuation of the product.

Since Panos Panay, the former leader of the Surface division, left for Amazon in 2023, there have been a lot of changes. Since then, we’ve seen the discontinuation of products like the Surface Headphones, Surface Earbuds, Surface Duo, and Surface Studio 2, along with what now appears to be the abandoned Surface Laptop Studio line. This points to Microsoft narrowing its focus, and could be due to shifting market demands or financial reasons, but it’s clear that the company wants to change its strategy.

Current Surface Laptop Studio 2 owners will still receive driver and firmware updates, but their devices may become outdated sooner without future hardware improvements. Those looking to buy a Surface Laptop Studio 2 will no longer be able to, which means they need to look elsewhere if they want this kind of laptop.

For now, Microsoft will keep competing with Apple in other ways, and likely won’t completely abandon the Surface brand. However, Microsoft keeps discontinuing products, and this leaves me wondering if Microsoft may be thinking about a new way forward with a new line.

Source: The Verge