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.
