Microsoft Surface surprises with $888 million in sales last quarter

[Dieter Holger]

Microsoft's Surface tablet is the success story of the Redmond company's fourth-quarter earning report. Although it faced slow sales growth for Windows and Office, Microsoft excelled in selling $888 million worth of their tablet -- up 117-percent from last year. Total revenue was $3.6 billion, meaning Surface accounted for nearly 16 percent of the company's total cash intake.

The rise in Surface sales reveals a consumer interest in mobile devices that are designed by the same company which develops their operating system. Windows Phone might not be a success, as indicated by its measly 3-percent share of the U.S. smartphone market, but Microsoft is clearly courting a fanbase among tablet lovers.

The Surface tablet debuted to rocky reviews and sales, but recent renditions, especially its Windows 8 equipped versions, have been met with a warmer welcome. Our review aggregation has given the first Surface RT a 73/100, with the recent Surface Pro 3 jumping by 10 points to 83. We've also reviewed the Microsoft Surface 3, calling it "one of the most attractive tablets on the market."

And if a report from a Chinese website is to be believed, the upcoming Microsoft Surface Pro 4 will be slimmer, equipped with a 5th-generation Intel Broadwell processor, and -- thanks to tiny holes -- won't need a fan. The Microsoft Surface Pro 4 is expected to be out in stores before the year's end.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/61471-microsoft-surface-surprises-888-million-sales-last-quarter.html

 

[enemys]

"Total revenue was $3.6 billion, meaning Surface accounted for nearly a quarter of the company's total cash intake."
What? Total revenue for Q4 '15 was $22.18 billion, yearly revenue from Surface was $3.6 billion.

 

[IAMTHESTIG]

Hmm well I didn't buy the tablet because it was made by the same company as the OS. I bought it because it is a good quality tablet, and I'm sure there are plenty of others who feel the same way. I'm very happy with my SP3, and it is getting better with patches and fixes.

 

[BigDawg24]

I own a Surface Pro 3. Great piece of hardware! Microsoft takes a lot of heat, but they did a great job with the Surface Pro 3.

 

[Guest]

Who is surprised? This is not the first earnings report to reflect strong Surface sales. I would have been surprised if this had come out otherwise.

 

[Guest]

Just got a Surface Pro 3 used from ebay, I'm really happy with it and it's brilliant for Steam in home streaming. Looking forward to windows 10 to make it even better.

 

[cliffordcooley]

My Surface Pro 3 is still on the store shelf, where it will likely stay.

If I can't do it with a phone (in my case I haven't tried), then I can do it with my desktop (certainly not a power hungry portable). I'm not in the market for anything in between.

 

[Dieter Holger]

"Total revenue was $3.6 billion, meaning Surface accounted for nearly a quarter of the company's total cash intake."
What? Total revenue for Q4 '15 was $22.18 billion, yearly revenue from Surface was $3.6 billion.

Thank you for pointing out my error. It should read that Surface accounted for nearly 16 percent of Microsoft's annual revenue. The post will be edited shortly.

 

[OortCloud]

Surface pro 3 is great bit of kit, I just wish they could me em a bit cheaper!
I guess v4 must be just around the corner now?

 

[enemys]

Thank you for pointing out my error. It should read that Surface accounted for nearly 16 percent of Microsoft's annual revenue. The post will be edited shortly.

But annual revenue was $93.6 billion, wasn't it? Annual income from Surface was only ~3,8% of Microsoft's annual revenue. And Surface Q4 revenue was $888 million, which is ~4% of $22.18 billion revenue that Microsoft had in Q4.