Click to Skip Ad
Closing in...

WSJ: Microsoft is prepping a 7-inch Surface tablet

Published Apr 11th, 2013 8:35AM EDT
Microsoft Surface Mini

If you buy through a BGR link, we may earn an affiliate commission, helping support our expert product labs.

What a coincidence — on the same day market research firm IDC reported that the PC industry saw its worst-ever decline, The Wall Street Journal has leaned the Microsoft (MSFT) is working on a new tablet. In line with a number of earlier reports, and contrary to recent claims from Microsoft’s CFO, the world’s largest software company is currently developing a 7-inch Surface tablet as well as several other new Surface slates.

No other details were provided, but The Journal says Microsoft’s 7-inch slate could go into mass production later this year, which is odd considering it also claims that a smaller tablet wasn’t “part of the company’s strategy last year, but Microsoft executives realized they needed a response to the rapidly growing popularity of smaller tablets.” Consumer electronics typically take much longer than just a few months to develop — the first Surface tablet was in the works for several years before Microsoft released it in 2012.

Zach Epstein
Zach Epstein Executive Editor

Zach Epstein has been the Executive Editor at BGR for more than 10 years. He manages BGR’s editorial team and ensures that best practices are adhered to. He also oversees the Ecommerce team and directs the daily flow of all content. Zach first joined BGR in 2007 as a Staff Writer covering business, technology, and entertainment.

His work has been quoted by countless top news organizations, and he was recently named one of the world's top 10 “power mobile influencers” by Forbes. Prior to BGR, Zach worked as an executive in marketing and business development with two private telcos.