Microsoft prepping 7-inch Surface tablet?

WSJ heard Microsoft is planning a 7-inch version of its Surface tablet. Citing anonymous sources familiar with the company's plans, the paper writes the smaller tablet is expected to into mass production later this year. The 7-inch tablet was not part of Microsoft's strategy last year, the sources claim it's a response to the growing popularity of small tablets like the Google's 7-inch Nexus and the Apple iPad Mini.

One person familiar with Microsoft's product plans said the 7-inch tablets weren't part of the company's strategy last year, but Microsoft executives realized they needed a response to the rapidly growing popularity of smaller tablets like Google Inc.'s 7-inch Nexus, which was announced last summer, and the 7.9-inch iPad Mini introduced by Apple Inc. last October.

Half of the tablet computers shipped in the fourth quarter were smaller than 8 inches, according to research firm IDC.