Microsoft will only sell its Surface tablet through its Microsoft stores in the U.S., and its Microsoft online store, the company said yesterday.
We've reached out to the company to clarify, but it hasn't gotten back to us. Mary Jo Foley at ZDNet asked, but only got a no comment.
This is an odd decision. It all but guarantees the Surface will sell in small numbers.
According to Microsoft's retail site, it only has 20 stores, with five more coming. That means it only has 20 locations for people to actually play with the Surface before they consider buying one.
That means that not a lot of people are going to buy the Surface, at least not initially.
This could be really bad for Microsoft because the story line will be that the Surface is a flop, and Microsoft can't beat the iPad. If the perception is that the Surface isn't selling, then consumers will skip the Surface for the more popular iPad.
We're not sure why Microsoft is only selling the Surface at its stores, but it seems like a mistake.
