Microsoft Surface popularity is not what it is cracked up to be if the latest sales figures are anything to go by and there isn’t much love floating around for Windows smartphones either.
The latest figures revealed by Microsoft last week reveal that Surface tablet sales fell 35.1 percent in the quarter ending Sept. 30 to US$672 million according to Microsoft chief financial officer Amy Hood said.
Even worse sales of Microsoft Windows based smartphones fell 54 percent to $1.1 billion in the last quarter.
Recently Microsoft dramatically scaled back its phone-making business to focus on a limited selection of premium phones, the company said.
A new Surface Pro 4 which is set to compete head on with similar products from Microsoft PC partners, Acer, Lenovo, Toshiba, ASUS, Dell and HP was announced earlier this month, the device goes on sale this month in Australia.
The fourth-generation Pro gets a slightly larger screen size at 12.3 inches, more RAM and storage, a new pen, and thinner design.
Surface sales in the first fiscal quarter were lower than in any of the company’s previous four quarters.
In the company’s fiscal 2015 fourth quarter, Surface sales hit $888 million following sales of $713 million in the third quarter, $1.1 billion in the second quarter, and $908 million in the first quarter.
Despite the decline, Hood said Surface “continues to gain ground with businesses and schools, creating opportunities for our rapidly growing partner channel including Accenture, Dell and HP.” She also said the number and size of deals in Microsoft’s commercial segment for Surface increased double-digits year-on-year.
