Microsoft exec alludes to smaller Windows 8 tablets on the horizon

Microsoft's chief financial officer Peter Klein said today that Windows 8 is "set up" to support smaller tablets than the current 10 inch models that the company and other PC OEMs currently sell.

So far, there have been no tablets released for Windows 8 or Windows RT that are smaller than 10.1 inches. Microsoft's own Surface tablets are 10.6 inches in size. Yet, the growth in the overall tablet marketplace is coming largely from smaller tablet products, such as the iPad mini, the Amazon Kindle Fire family and Google's Nexus 7 tablet.

So does that mean that we could see a seven inch Windows 8 tablet in the future? GeekWire.com reports that Microsoft's chief financial officer Peter Kline stated today:

... I think we’re really set up to deliver the most versatile set of experiences across form factors, whether that’s 4-inch, 5-inch, 7-inch, 8-inch, 10-inch, 13-inch. And along with our partners in the ecosystem, we’ll work through that based on underlying demand.

Klien's remarks, which he made as part of his Q&A session at the Goldman Sachs Technology and Internet Conference, would seem to be a hint that there are smaller Windows 8 devices already in the works. So far, there's been no official word that Microsoft has plans for a smaller Surface tablet, although there are rumors that the company is working on a gaming themed Xbox Surface tablet that will be seven inches in size.

Source: GeekWire.com | Image via Microsoft