Earlier this year, Microsoft announced the availability of the Surface Hub and began taking pre-orders on July 1st with an expected ship date of September 1st. The company then announced a delay, where the device would not ship until January. Now Microsoft says not only will they raise the price of the device for all new orders, but also that the device will ship during Q1.
When the Hub was announced, it was initially priced at $6,999 for the 55 inch and $19,999 for the 84-inch model, but now the company is going to increase the price of the device for all new orders. Starting today, if you order a 55-inch Hub, it will cost you $8,999. If you purchase the 84-inch version, the price will now be $21,999.
For those who have already ordered the devices, the company will honor the initial price.
The company says, in a statement sent to Petri, that they are still “on track to ship the first Surface Hub devices to customers early next year,” but does not specifically state January 1st. The company notes that there was confusion that the month of January was the timeline, not specifically the 1st but still, they are now saying Q1.
This further delay is likely frustrating to those who ordered the device back in July. While the company is confident about this new release date, a second delay could be putting corporate plans in jeopardy to deploy the new devices.
Back at BUILD 2015 in the spring, the company was heavily pushing the device as a way to modernize your meeting environment. The company expected the device to be a big hit with the enterprise crowd as the price point, while it does seem high, is in-line with the amount of money spent to refurbish a meeting room and offers a high-value proposition as an all-in-one device.