Surface Duo release dates are being announced all over the place. When it was first announced last year, Microsoft announced that it would be coming in "Holiday 2020". That date was moved up to September 10, partly to challenge Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold 2 in the foldable phone space.

However, this date only applies to the U.S. The Surface Duo has also been certified for sale in Canada, the European Union, and Japan, but Microsoft has not stated a release date, saying only that it is "taking a phased approach to meet customer demand. This frankly means anything from "in a few weeks" to "not at all." [But according to Android Central's Zac Bowden, the current thinking within Microsoft is "the first half of 2021" as cell phone sales meet Microsoft's expectations Bowden noted that "the plan is unclear" and that if sales are a huge success If they are, it could come early. If the Surface Duo becomes Microsoft's Zune 2.0, it may never leave the US.

This vague window doesn't seem to be preventing carriers from making plans. According to the report, EE plans to carry the Surface Duo in the UK if and when it lands there, although it is unclear if this is an exclusive deal.

Microsoft's reluctance to produce more units than it sells is understandable enough, a throwback to the bad old days of the Surface RT, but the strategy is certainly a dangerous one. The longer aspiring early adopters wait, the less likely they are to be interested when the phone arrives.

This is true to some extent for any phone, but it is especially true for the Surface Duo, which is not the latest phone in terms of raw power. While the design is certainly innovative and new, Microsoft has a slightly earlier component: a 2019 Snapdragon 855 with 6GB RAM. If Microsoft's 2021 plan comes to fruition, when the Surface Duo finally arrives, it will be two processor generations behind rival flagships.

That may not be a problem; the Snapdragon 855 will still be snappy in 2021, and the device's appeal lies above all in its form. But even then, unless Microsoft drops the Surface Duo's current $1,399 price before its international launch, the high cost of entry will be felt even more significantly in 2021, with other, faster options looming on the Surface Duo's virtual heels.