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Lenovo gives up on small Windows tablets in the US

by on18 July 2014



Americans don’t want them

Chinese ThinkPad maker Lenovo has stopped supplying tiny Windows tablets to Americans. Lenovo makes two 8-inch Windows 8 tablets: the ThinkPad 8 and Miix 2, which have both been available for a number of months.

But it seems that in North America, the outfit is seeing stronger interest in the larger screen sizes for Windows tablets and is pleased with initial customer demand for the ThinkPad 10. Lenovo spokesman Raymond Gorman said that the ThinkPad 8 has been popular in Brazil, China, and Japan, the lack of demand in the US means it is no longer on sale.

The theory in the office is that tablet users in the US are too generously proportioned and their salami-sized fingers cannot hit the buttons on smaller machines. Microsoft will be hoping Lenovo doesn’t start a trend amongst PC makers to move away from small Windows tablets, especially as it only recently made Windows free for devices under 9 inches. 

Microsoft cancelled its own plans for a small "Surface Mini" Windows tablet after CEO Satya Nadella and Executive VP Stephen Elop backed away from the project. Lenovo’s ThinkPad 8 was one of the better 8-inch Windows tablets on the market. What stopped it doing really well was the lack of full touch versions of Office and more "Metro-style" apps.

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