Microsoft has revealed it will not be shipping the Surface Hub in September as originally planned, with no new date announced.
High demand was blamed for the delay, as Microsoft is now "tuning our manufacturing process to prepare for production at broader scale".
"To do this, we are adjusting our product rollout schedule to ensure we deliver a great customer experience and set our partners up for success," wrote Brian Hall, general manager, Microsoft Surface, on this blog.
"We will not start shipping on September 1 now. We’ll have more details on our updated shipment schedule in early August. In the meantime, we will continue to take pre-orders."
Microsoft first announced the Surface Hub in June, with Telstra and Pro AV Solutions as the two Australian partners. Microsoft is "continuing to bring on new partners to further strengthen and scale our channel".
Integrating video-calling and note-taking onto a touch screen, the Surface Hub traces its roots back to products made by Perceptive Pixel, an Oregon-based company Microsoft bought in 2012. Microsoft unveiled a prototype of the new device in January.
It was another step into high-tech hardware for Microsoft, an arena it first entered with Xbox and then followed with the Surface tablet in 2012 and Windows Phones, and will continue with the much-hyped HoloLens.
An 84-inch screen version of the Surface Hub was set to sell for US$20,000. A smaller 55-inch version will sell for US$7,000.
The news came during Microsoft's Worldwide Partner Conference. where the vendor also announced it was scaling up the reseller channel for its Surface tablet range.
Steven Kiernan is a guest of Microsoft at the Worldwide Partner Conference
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