Microsoft's Surface Pro Clearance Knocks $100 Off MSRP

Microsoft MSFT has reduced the price of its first-generation Surface Pro tablets. Consumers will now pay $699 for the 64GB model (down from $799) and $799 for the 128GB iteration (down from $899). The new prices -- which were first discovered by The Next Web -- have already taken effect on MicrosoftStore.com. There is also supposed to be a 256GB model for $999 (down from $1,099), but it does not appear to be available on Microsoft's website. Consumers may have to head to one of their physical Microsoft Stores in order to take advantage of that offer. The deal is scheduled to end on December 31, 2013, though it is hard to imagine that Microsoft will have enough units to last until then. After all, the Surface Pro 2 is now available. Microsoft has almost certainly shifted its manufacturing duties over to the new tablet. Unlike the original Surface RT, the first-generation Surface Pro is not still being promoted as a current Microsoft product. Some retailers have followed Microsoft's lead in applying the price cut. Best Buy BBY has made the necessary adjustments on its website, but the 64GB model is not currently available for shipping. The price reduction is listed as a "sale," but Best Buy is unlikely to raise the price even if some units remain after December 31. Related: Surface Revenue Falls Below Microsoft's $900 Million Write-Down (MSFT) Micro Center has reduced its prices as well, but Amazon.com AMZN -- one of the world's largest retailers of electronic devices -- has yet to follow suit. This could be due to the fact the tablet is offered by a wide variety of third-party Amazon merchants that set their own prices. Even so, consumers may have a hard time paying $898.49 for the 128GB Surface Pro when they can get the exact same unit elsewhere for $100 less. This is not the first time that Microsoft has reduced the price of Surface Pro. The tablet already enjoyed a $100 price cut in August. Today's reduction means that consumers will pay $200 less than when the tablet was first released. Disclosure: At the time of this writing, Louis Bedigian had no position in the equities mentioned in this report. Louis Bedigian is the Senior Tech Analyst and Features Writer of Benzinga. You can reach him at louis(at)benzingapro(dot)com. Follow him @LouisBedigianBZ