Microsoft has recently announced it is laying off thousands of employees from its sales business. However, the company is not finished and will also be cutting jobs at a Surface Hub manufacturing facility. Microsoft confirmed that it will remove 124 positions as the company is closing the plant.
The Wilsonville, Oregon facility is closing, but Microsoft insists that it is sticking with the Surface Hub. Indeed, rumors persist that the company is currently developing a sequel to the Hub.
Instead, Microsoft says the closure and job cuts are coming as it seeks to consolidate its Surface manufacturing:
“We are consolidating our Surface manufacturing. This will result in the closure of the Wilsonville, OR office and factory. We remain committed to the Surface Hub product line and will move forward with Surface Hub development in Redmond,” said a company spokesperson to ZDNet.
Microsoft received the plant as part of its 2012 acquisition of Perceptive Pixel Inc. (PPI). The company used the company and the plant to develop the Surface Hub.
Surface Hub
Available in two sizes (84-inch and 55-inch), the Hub provides a large touch screen computer. It is designed to give businesses a teamwork solution with Microsoft-based services. The device comes with Full HD or Quad HD resolution, while Intel 4th generation i5 and i7 chipsets backed with 8GB of RAM is available.
In December last year, Microsoft announced solid sales of the Surface Hub. A very niche product, the company confirmed it had sold significant numbers. It is worth remembering the device costs thousands of dollars to buy:
“By the end of 2016, nine months since our launch, we will have shipped Surface Hubs to over 2,000 customers in 24 markets. The average deal size we see in the pipeline is approximately 50 units, but we’ve seen orders as large as 1,500 units to a large car manufacturer.”
Last Updated on April 9, 2020 12:13 pm CEST by Luke Jones
