Lack of interest sees Lenovo end 8-inch Windows tablet sales in US

[Scorpus]

Update: Lenovo has come forward to clarify the situation and in fact isn't ending the sale of 8-inch tablets in the United States -- it appears however they are halting current model sales until refreshed tablets come out later this year. The company has provided us with the following statement:

We will continue to bring new Windows devices to market across different screen sizes, including a new 8-inch tablet and 10-inch tablet coming this holiday. Our model mix changes as per customer demand, and although we are no longer selling ThinkPad 8 in the U.S., and we have sold out of Miix 8-inch, we are not getting out of the small-screen Windows tablet business as was reported by the media. In short, we will continue to sell both 8 and 10 inch Windows tablets in both the U.S. and non-U.S markets.

Lenovo has decided to stop the sales of all their small form factor Windows tablets in the United States, due to a lack of interest from buyers in the country.

Inventory for the Lenovo Miix 2 8 and the ThinkPad 8 - the two 8-inch Windows-based tablets the company was selling in the States - has been redirected to countries with stronger demand, effective immediately. This means both tablets will no longer be available for purchase in the US after current in-store inventories dry up.

Despite a lack of interest for Lenovo's 8-inch products, a spokesperson said the company was pleased with initial demand for the ThinkPad 10, Lenovo's larger Windows tablet with a 10-inch display. Meanwhile, demand for the ThinkPad 8 has been strong in Brazil, China and Japan: destinations where unsold US inventory will be redirected to.

Companies such as Lenovo have struggled to see serious traction for their small Windows tablets, in part due to strong demand and praise for devices like the Apple iPad mini and Google Nexus 7. Intel in particular has faced issues getting their Bay Trail SoCs into the market, having to subsidize the chips for manufacturers, causing a drop in profits for their mobile division.

If you were thinking of purchasing either the Miix 2 8 or the ThinkPad 8, now is the time before remaining inventory disappears.

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/57453-lack-of-interest-sees-lenovo-end-8-inch-windows-tablet-sales-in-us.html

 

[Trillionsin]

This is too bad. I got my hands on a Miix recently. I liked it for the most part... I really wanted a 10 inch windows tablet, so I never bought the 8-inch that I had my hands on. Well, oh well..

 

[amstech]

You can get a Android based 7"-8" tablet for $90-$120.
I got my HP Slate Plus 4200 for $120 shipped, and that was three months ago.
I bought my GF a Kindle Fire HD for $135 six months ago.

Also, people don't like the Windows 8 based touch options, why does Microsoft think customers will pay extra for their name? This is 2014, not 2007; no one is going to buy an overpriced Lenovo (an average brand at best, no one cares if its a sister company) with an OS they hate.

 

[wastedkill]

Dont the non-microsoft tablets only come with windows RT?

 

[Guest]

They priced themselves out of a market where a Dell Venue 8 Pro with the same features costs $150 less.

 

[RzmmDX]

I wasn't even aware that there was a lenovo tablet.

 

[rub900]

And their laptops suck. Good go sell them somewhere else.

 

[Jad Chaar]

And their laptops suck. Good go sell them somewhere else.

I really do not know what you are talking about... have you ever tried a ThinkPad? They last for years due to their durability and consistency... it may be made by a Chinese company but that doesn't make their products bad or cheap...

 

[Guest]

People prefer 10 inch version with 3G/4G capability

 

[Skidmarksdeluxe]

And their laptops suck. Good go sell them somewhere else.

I really do not know what you are talking about... have you ever tried a ThinkPad? They last for years due to their durability and consistency... it may be made by a Chinese company but that doesn't make their products bad or cheap...

I concur.

 

[GeforcerFX]

Dont the non-microsoft tablets only come with windows RT?

no only the surface and nokia come with rt. These are all running x86 intel quad cores and come with full windows 8.1 and office 2013 home and student.

Lenovo was the latest to the market, Dell and Asus definitely stole all the windows tablet market share in the lower price regions they were in retail like 3 months ahead of everyone else, the Toshiba encore though to me is the best rounded device features wise. Acer didn't do well as well which is sad since they started the 8" windows tablet market with there original one.

 

[Route44]

And their laptops suck. Good go sell them somewhere else.

And you base this on...? Have you ever had one particularly their ThinkPad models? My family has 3 and 2 of them are almost 4 years old and going strong.

 

[nazartp]

You can get a Android based 7"-8" tablet for $90-$120.
I got my HP Slate Plus 4200 for $120 shipped, and that was three months ago.
I bought my GF a Kindle Fire HD for $135 six months ago.

Also, people don't like the Windows 8 based touch options, why does Microsoft think customers will pay extra for their name? This is 2014, not 2007; no one is going to buy an overpriced Lenovo (an average brand at best, no one cares if its a sister company) with an OS they hate.

To each its own. My son and I dropped Android tablets in favor of Miix 2 and Asus T100 and never looked back. Excellent pieces of equipment.

 

[nazartp]

And their laptops suck. Good go sell them somewhere else.

You are kidding, right? I use their ThinkPads for work for the past 7 years. They take abuse of 12-13 hour working days and constant travel and still go strong when I swap them in for an updated model. Before that I had Dell and HP and those were nowhere near the quality and reliability of ThinkPads.

My son has an IdeaPad for the past two years and no complaints.

 

[Jad Chaar]

You are kidding, right? I use their ThinkPads for work for the past 7 years. They take abuse of 12-13 hour working days and constant travel and still go strong when I swap them in for an updated model. Before that I had Dell and HP and those were nowhere near the quality and reliability of ThinkPads.

My son has an IdeaPad for the past two years and no complaints.

Great computers indeed.

 

[GhostRyder]

And their laptops suck. Good go sell them somewhere else.

You must be joking, all the business machines and laptops at the Data Center up here are Lenovo (With a few Dells thrown in) and they survive abuse after abuse and keep on running. Lenovo make excellent products that are durable and dependable, I never have major issues with these machines unless someone specifically threw it off a building or down a flight of stairs.

Windows Tablets are great, but in all honesty the market for tablets is just a bit different because many people already have one. It also takes time before people are willing to swap over to something else after they have grown accustomed to another. Most iPad people generally will stick to an iPad same with Droid users.

 

[amstech]

To each its own. My son and I dropped Android tablets in favor of Miix 2 and Asus T100 and never looked back. Excellent pieces of equipment.

The Asus T100 is a convertible that cost atleast $300, the MiiX2 is a broad product line ranging from $200--$900.
My HP Slate Plus 7 has a Tegra quad core, 1200X800 resolution, 1GB RAM and 32GB expansion (got a 32GB micro for $8 shipped), and I love the Jelly Bean OS.
The Lenovo MiiX 8 has a quad core, 1200X800 resolution and 2GB RAM with Windows 8 for double the price.
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=8563444&CatId=6845
You can have those '"extra features" (Windows 8 /1GB RAM), and I'll keep my $100-$200. I just needed a basic tablet that goes forever on battery and streams films/games like a champ, sounds like you needed more. And hey look on the bright side, atleast you didn't buy any M$ Surface products.

 

[rub900]

You must be joking, all the business machines and laptops at the Data Center up here are Lenovo (With a few Dells thrown in) and they survive abuse after abuse and keep on running. Lenovo make excellent products that are durable and dependable, I never have major issues with these machines unless someone specifically threw it off a building or down a flight of stairs.

Windows Tablets are great, but in all honesty the market for tablets is just a bit different because many people already have one. It also takes time before people are willing to swap over to something else after they have grown accustomed to another. Most iPad people generally will stick to an iPad same with Droid users.

every since IBM sold their pc business to this Chinese company it has gone down hill. Their products are a joke.