Another Windows RT Loss: Lenovo Cuts Yoga 11 With RT

"I have to assume cutting the device was related to the business vs. consumer market, and Lenovo is focusing on the business market. I think it's a smart decision on Lenovo's part," said Douglas Grosfield, president and CEO of Xylotek Solutions, a Cambridge, Ontario-based Lenovo partner, in an interview with CRN.

According to an IDC report released last week, Lenovo surpassed HP and claimed the title for No. 1 worldwide leader in PC sales. IDC, based in Framingham, Mass., reported the rank shuffling among PC vendors was more about who slipped less, rather than who sold more, considering not even Lenovo saw growth in PC sales from the previous quarter.

[Related: Lenovo Goes Small With New 'Tiny' ThinkCentre PC ]

Microsoft has given away thousands of its own Surface RT tablets to teachers and Microsoft partners at various conferences. The company has also deeply discounted Surface tablets for education. Most recently, Microsoft slashed retail prices down $150 from its original price.

Grosfield said there was zero advantage to using Windows RT in a business environment. "It's a non-starter when it comes to the business space."

"You can only run native, Windows 8 RT apps. Anything you would typically use for a remote worker, you wouldn't be able to install software for. The security is lower than in the Pro version of Windows 8," Grosfield said these were only a few reasons for RT's failure to stick outside of the consumer market.

"It's not a surprise that Lenovo is refocusing on the enterprise space more so than the consumer space. No one is interested in RT in enterprise," Grosfield said.

According to a Lenovo spokesperson in a statement to CRN, the Yoga 11 is currently out of stock on Lenovo.com, but the product can still be purchased through resellers. The product will not be returning to Lenovo.com.

PUBLISHED JULY 18, 2013