The Surface Duo 2 has been hard to find but not because everybody wants one
Microsoft has tried and failed to make it big in the smartphone world dominated by Google and Apple many times — even its Nokia bet didn’t pay off back in the day. The Windows maker’s third big attempt at smartphones was an Android-powered foldable Surface Duo that was unlike any other foldable on the market. While Microsoft has had a hard time selling its novel foldable, it is still optimistic about the Surface smartphone lineup.
The Microsoft Surface Duo 2, launched in late 2021, was a breath of fresh air, breaking the mundanity of your run-of-the-mill smartphone design. It looked different from other foldables as well, with its two-screen layout instead of a single flexible display folding in half. Despite many upsides to its fresh design, the Surface Duo 2 found few takers, largely because of its unproven potential and high asking price.
Windows Central did some digging and found that the Surface Duo 2 has been out of stock for many weeks in nearly all the markets. While it’s hard to believe people are lining up to buy a Surface Duo, a more likely reason could be that Microsoft isn’t producing enough units — or any, for that matter. Back in September, Microsoft blamed component shortage for the device’s limited availability, but this time, the company has apparently ceased its production for good.
However, that doesn’t mean Microsoft is in any mood to abandon its forward-looking smartphone venture. In a statement to Windows Central, the company affirmed that the Surface Duo continues to be an important part of its larger Surface lineup, which includes its excellent — and expensive — detachable computers. But it remained tight-lipped on whether or not it is still making any more Surface Duo 2 units.
While we haven’t heard anything about the Surface Duo 2’s successor so far, the outlet’s sources suggest that a third Surface-branded Android phone is in the works. Nobody knows just yet if this alleged Microsoft handset will stick to its foldable form factor or switch to a more conventional design (paired with a more sensible price) to compete with more mainstream phones.
Either way, if you’ve been eyeing a smartphone in a similar price range as the Surface Duo 2, you have many more fantastic options on the Android side that will be a bang for your buck. In case, a foldable is what you specifically want, there are plenty of new models — one each from Oppo, Honor, and Google — coming our way, hopefully, this year.
