Microsoft made several curious decisions in selling its first-generation Surface tablets last year but one of the most questionable was the decision to initially only offer the Surface in its own retail stores, a move that seems especially strange because Microsoft only had 32 outlets nationwide last holiday season. Although the company has since expanded the Surface to more retailers, it apparently still isn’t taking full advantage of all the resources it has at its disposal to get the Surface into customers’ hands.
Business Insider on Wednesday talked with Bob Venero, the CEO of Microsoft reseller Future Tech, who says that Microsoft is still refusing to let smaller resellers carry the Surface and is instead asking them to bring interested Surface buyers to Microsoft’s own retail locations if they want to check out the tablet.
“Really?” an incredulous Venero asked rhetorically. “Hey guys, let’s bring our customers in and tell them, ‘Look at all of this cool stuff. By the way, you can’t buy any of it from us.’ What? It’s insanity.”
Venero went on to say that he’s “trying to figure out the rationale” behind not letting more resellers sell the Surface, especially since Microsoft is pitching the Surface Pro to enterprise customers that have strong relationships with resellers.
