Windows RT is running out of friends. Asus told The Wall Street Journal that it will no longer make Windows RT tablets with ARM chips, saying it took a loss on its Windows RT devices last quarter. Instead, the company will build full Windows 8 devices using Intel processors. Originally, Asus was one of the operating system’s stalwart supporters, putting its Asus Vivo Tab RT on shelves before the competition, but other companies like Samsung, Toshiba, HTC and Nokia have all curtailed their efforts, and companies like Acer and Dell are proceeding cautiously.
Asus will no longer make Windows RT tablets
is a senior editor and founding member of The Verge who covers gadgets, games, and toys. He spent 15 years editing the likes of CNET, Gizmodo, and Engadget.
Not a single Windows RT tablet was announced at Computex Taipei, Asia’s biggest computer show.
The Asus move doesn’t come as a huge surprise, when Windows RT devices confusingly don’t offer all the same features as Windows 8, didn’t manage to hit significantly lower price points until they were put on deep discount, and particularly when Intel’s Atom chips manage to run full Windows 8 as well or better than the ARM alternative. Still, with a new version of Windows RT on the way, we’re surprised Asus is pulling out so publicly.
Regardless, Microsoft will have another chance to get it right itself: even though the company took a $900 million hit on its flagship Surface RT slate, the company’s producing another Surface with an Nvidia chip inside. Later in the day, Microsoft told CNET that “Windows remains committed to the ARM platform.”
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