New
#1
Bah... speculation upon speculation, rumor upon rumor... one source says one thing, another says the exact opposite...
Fact is, Someone at Microsoft probably "investigates" all scenarios, and whether or not they go one way or another is ultimately up to the brass, and those decisions generally don't get made until just before it happens.
Microsoft, for it's part, tends to be willing to take long term losses on hardware, but not always.. (the Kin was a notable example, but it didn't have the kind of support that Surface has internally).