Microsoft plans to ‘update and innovate’ Surface Duo form factor

Following rumours that the Surface Duo 2 might have been discontinued, Microsoft says it’s not and that it plans to “update and innovate” the form factor — Surface Duo 3, anyone?

Here’s how it all went down. Windows Central reported that the Surface Duo 2 was out of stock basically everywhere, from Best Buy to Microsoft’s own store in the U.S. (As an aside, currently ‘Obsidian’ variant is out of stock at Microsoft Canada, but the ‘Glacier’ variant is in stock and $600 off right now.) Anyway, Microsoft responded to the Windows Central report with the following statement:

“We are experiencing supply constraints that are impacting stock of Surface Duo 2 units. The product is not being discontinued. We continue to update and to innovate on this form factor and are excited by customer interest.”

So, if you want to buy a Surface Duo 2 but can’t, it’s because Microsoft is dealing with supply issues, not because it discontinued the product. But that second line in the statement is far more intriguing. Updates and innovations? How exciting.

Let’s start with updates. Google released Android 12L with a bunch of improvements for tablets and foldables. Last year, Windows Central said Microsoft was working on bringing 12L to the Surface Duo 2. That likely falls under the “update” category Microsoft mentioned in its statement, and hopefully will mean using the Surface Duo 2 will be smoother with official Android support for dual-screen devices.

As for the “innovate” part, it’s less clear what this could mean. Likely, it’ll be a Surface Duo 3 (or some other take on a foldable smartphone). Again, Windows Central previously reported Microsoft considered going to a single-screen foldable design, like Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4, rather than the current two-screen Duo design.

Whether we’ll see any of these changes from Microsoft in the future remains to be seen. The company does have a hardware event happening in October — perhaps we’ll learn about a new Duo device there.

Source: Windows Central