With Christmas just around the corner, many companies are spreading holiday cheer by decorating their offices or passing out candy canes. Microsoft is going one step further and is giving each of its employees a brand new Surface tablet. Right now the plan from the software maker is to pass out the brand new hardware to staff in 12 countries. The employees in US, France, China, Australia, Hong Kong, Austria, Ireland, Puerto Rico, New Zealand and Germany should get the device before Christmas. After them staff members in other countries will get the Surface as well.
This will be a massive undertaking because of the 94,000 employees that Microsoft currently has around the world.
Microsoft is also increasing the sales channels it uses to sell the recently launched Surface. Previously, the maker of Windows was selling the device from its own outlets but has now decided to provide stock to Best Buy and Staples. This is expected to give the company a boost in sales before the holiday season.
This may be move by the company to help increase sales that have been lagging. Rumors have indicated that the Surface and Microsoft’s new Windows 8 are not living up to expectations. Microsoft has not given out any official numbers for the device as of now but it has made some moves to increase sales.
The question that remains to be answered is whether passing out Surface tablets to employees will help boost sales or provide valuable feedback. It cannot hurt the morale of employees to get the new tablets and with areas that have a large number of Microsoft staffers, the free Surfaces are good marketing for the product.
Source: The Next Web