Microsoft is cutting prices of its Surface tablets in what is seen as the tech giant unloading its inventory to prepare for refreshing the Surface line.

Attendees at this week's Microsoft TechEd conference in New Orleans will have the opportunity to buy one Surface RT and Surface Pro for $100 and $399, respectively.

The Surface RT has a $499 price tag for the 32GB version, $599 for the 64GB and $120 and $130 for cover, while it is discounted to $399 in WPCentral.

Besides the lower prices for the Surface tablets, Microsoft is also giving free touch or type cover for very purchase of a Surface RT tablet. However, the offer is only good in the U.S. and Canada from May 31 to June 30.

There is lack of official information from Microsoft how many Surface Pro and RT tablets it has launched, but ZDNET estimates that in Q4 2012, one million Surface RT tablets were sold while by Q1 2013, 400,000 Surface Pros were sold.

Despite the Surface Pro being cited by techs as the best Windows tablet, but the device suffering from weak sales compared to other tablets on the market, ZDNET cited Paul Thurrott of Windows SuperSite that Microsoft is bullish it can sell 25 million Surface devices in 2014.

Rumours about Surface devices include the release of a 256 GB Surface Pro model in Japan on June 7 and a new mini Surface with a 7- or 8-inch screen which would be announced at the Microsoft Build developers conference that starts June 26.

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