Microsoft Surface Tablets Struggle

Microsoft has failed to fill a three million order for its Surface tablets, shipping only 1.5 million Surface RT and Surface Pro models, according to a Bloomberg report. Despite a massive push into the tablet market, Microsoft has failed to scratch the surface with its Surface devices, it says.According to Bloomberg, Microsoft’s sale of a maximum 1.5 million Surface tablets since the launch of the Surface RT last year, includes roughly 400,000 sales of the pricier Surface Pro model. But it says Surface sales pale in comparison to Apple’s iPad models in the same period.

Apple sold 22.9 million iPads in the quarter ended December. Worldwide tablet shipments reached 128.3 million units in 2012, according to research firm IDC, with the iPad accounting for 51 percent of the market.

Analysts are now lowering sales expectations for the Surface, with Pacific Crest Securities projecting sales in this quarter of 600,000 units instead of 1.4 million.