Microsoft kills 40-year-old brand

Technology

Friday, April 28, 2023 17:49 (GMT+7)
17:49 April 28, 2023

Microsoft announced that it will stop producing Microsoft-branded mice, keyboards and webcams.

Microsoft mechanical keyboards are a thing of the past. Photo: The Verge .

Instead, the technology group will focus on Surface-branded accessories including mice, keyboards, smart pens, etc.

This marks the end of logo-branded hardware since the launch of the first mouse in 1983 for Microsoft Word and Notepad, The Verge commented.

“Going forward, we will focus on Windows accessories under the Surface brand. We will continue to offer a wide range of devices such as mice, keyboards, pens, docks, etc. Microsoft accessories will continue to be sold at the same price until stocks last,” said Dan Laycock, communications manager at Microsoft.

Earlier, Nikkei Asia reported that Microsoft plans to cut production of accessories for its Surface laptop line. According to internal sources, the technology corporation will not produce its own keyboard under the Surface brand. This is considered an important change for Microsoft. The technology company is also not immune to the trend of downsizing to face the declining economy , Nikkei Asia commented.

“We have received information that Microsoft will stop producing detachable keyboards. Surface laptops will still be the focus of the corporation in the future except for the accessories segment,” said the director of an unnamed partner.

According to Nikkei Asia , in terms of output, Microsoft does not stand out compared to competitors like Apple, shipping only 28.6 million laptops and tablets in 2021. But the tech giant has still invested heavily in hardware over the past decade to improve and upgrade features on Windows.

Microsoft's webcam product line is dead. Photo: Microsoft .

Experts say it is understandable that companies like Microsoft want to reshape their resources and shift their investments to high-margin products like cloud storage, as the tech industry will find it difficult to recover in the short term.

A manager at another supplier said his company was still in the manufacturing phase for Microsoft’s order when it received the news of the product line’s demise. “We are still negotiating with customers to resolve the inventory,” the manager said.

According to Nikkei Asia , the PC market, including desktops, tablets, and laptops, has experienced historic growth since the Covid-19 pandemic. But the Russia-Ukraine dispute has caused global user demand to plummet by 12.5%, to only 453.7 million devices in 2022, citing data from IDC.

However, according to The Verge , Microsoft's recent statement has corrected the information from Nikkei. In fact, the technology company only killed the Microsoft accessory line to focus on the Surface line.

Microsoft has yet to release a webcam for the Surface line. Previously, product manager Panos Panay had revealed the appearance of a Surface-branded webcam product, but in 2021, Microsoft announced the Microsoft Modern Webcam for $69.99 .

According to The Verge , the announcement to stop producing Microsoft accessories also means the death of the mechanical keyboard upgrade that users have long awaited. Microsoft once launched the Surface mechanical keyboard for $120 , double the price of the Microsoft Ergonomic Keyboard at $59.99 .

Thuy Lien

Microsoft Devices Discontinued Microsoft Microsoft Discontinued Surface Webcam