Microsoft's Surface business is up 38% year on year

Oct 26, 2016

Microsoft posted its first quarter of its 2017 fiscal earnings today, reporting revenue of $20.5 billion and net income of $4.7 billion. It was a stellar quarter for the company riding on the back of a successful transition to software and services in the cloud with Office 365 and Azure. But that isn’t the only bet that’s paying off for Microsoft: Surface revenue hit $926 million in the quarter, up 38 percent from the $672 million last year.

The company credited strong sales of its Surface Book and the Surface Pro 4, and its CEO Satya Nadella noted that enterprise orders of 500 or more Surface devices have increased by 70 percent. Running a major ad campaign and key partnerships like with the NFL probably helped too, even if Patriots coach Bill Belichick isn’t much of a fan.

Apple’s iPad business is still dramatically larger than the Surface but sales have been steadily dropping for some time. The company reported in July that revenue from the iPad rose 7.4 percent to $4.9 billion in the third quarter, thanks to the iPad Pro lineup, but unit sales dropped 9 percent to 9.95 million -- the 10th straight down quarter for iPad sales.

Microsoft is expected to launch a new Surface all-in-one PC at an event next week.

Source: TECHSPOT