Microsoft Surface Sales May Exceed 1 Million in Q4

By Zak Islam
published

Microsoft said to have halved production of tablet.

Microsoft's Surface RT tablet is expected to exceed sales of more than a million units during the fourth quarter.

"We see estimated sales of 1.3 million" in the quarter, Rhoda Alexander, an analyst at IHS iSuppli, said. The fourth quarter has a few weeks left before 2013's Q1 period arrives. "I would be surprised to see it much above that."

Due to the Surface RT model launching on October 26 -- well into the fourth quarter since it commenced -- sales of over a million for the tablet would have been carried out in around two months.

However, Boston-based brokerage firm Detwiler Fenton said in a research note that Microsoft is expected to sell less than a million units during the December quarter. Initial Surface RT orders sent to Asia suppliers a month back "were really aggressive," but those numbers weren't "borne out."

Microsoft's projections for Surface's commercial performance, meanwhile, is said to have missed initial expectations by a considerable margin, consequently leading to reports suggesting the software giant reducing production of the device by half.

Surface's Pro model, which delivers the complete Windows 8 experience, is scheduled for a January 2013 launch.

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Zak Islam
23 Comments Comment from the forums
  • DjEaZy
    ... in other Tom's news iPad Expected to Ship 26 Million Units This Quarter....
    http://www.tomshardware.com/news/iPad-4-Mini-Apple-Sales-tablet,19548.html
    Reply
  • ojas
    Man, it's like every random article that doesn't say much is by Zak. It's like Wolfgang's alias or something. I don't even click on half the articles that i think are written by him. Why did i come here? Because i was bored and knew this was a Zak article :P

    Must return to Indar now ;)

    DjEaZy... in other Tom's news iPad Expected to Ship 26 Million Units This Quarter....http://www.tomshardware.com/news/i 19548.htmlShipping and selling are different things...
    Reply
  • belardo
    Yet according to Business Insider:
    MS cuts its Surface orders in half....
    Windows Phone 8 is doing badly... nobody cares...

    MS is in trouble...
    Reply
  • dthx
    ojasShipping and selling are different things...Until now, all the iPads Apple has shipped were eventually sold as well
    belardoYet according to Business Insider:MS cuts its Surface orders in half....Windows Phone 8 is doing badly... nobody cares...MS is in trouble...Their sales volumes look indeed anecdotic compared to the Galaxy S3 / Note and iPhone figures, but if you look back at where they come from, it's a big achievement: they managed to reverse the trend and escape from the negative spiral they were caught in. I guess we will only be able to judge over a longer period of time...
    Anyway, I don't think the surface RT has a bright future, and the PRO version which looks appealing from a functional perspective will have to face heavy concurrence from other manufacturers of Windows 8 devices. Still not a big problem as Microsoft isn't probably looking for the hardware sales revenue: their focus is to restore their OS market share and the surface devices are here to cover their back if the OEMs fail to produce the products the market demands. Their efforts will probably pay ... but later than sooner.
    Reply
  • fuzzion
    Dear Santa " If you get a MS surface, I will b1tch you and your reindeers"
    Reply
  • leandrodafontoura
    Apple ship and SELLS 1 million per day
    Reply
  • wemakeourfuture
    Originally Microsoft said they would sell 4 million units by 2012, then revised to 2 million now we're getting outside estimates of 1.3 million.

    Once the Surface was officially announced with its price I knew it was going to be a huge disaster (flop) for Microsoft. They cannot compete with Android and Apple at their price point. They had to deeply subsidize the cost.

    This reminds me of RIM and their Playbook. One day one of their announcement I told all my colleagues it was going to crash and burn and it did exactly that. Way overpriced for a new player in the space. Microsoft just repeated it.

    This is why the Entertainment and Devices Division over the past decade has an operating income of
    -$3.55 Billion (not adjusted for inflation).

    Good job Microsoft! You pissed off your laptop and desktop base with Windows 8 to push very little units for Windows 8 Phones and Surface.
    Reply
  • hixbot
    Give me a 7" Tablet with a x86 CPU running x86 Windows 8, bundled with a docking station that I can connect to a multi-monitor setup, keyboard, mouse and surround sound.

    Only with a setup like this, will we see a benefit of having the Metro UI and Desktop UI in one operating system.
    Reply
  • thecolorblue
    hixbotGive me a 7" Tablet with a x86 CPU running x86 Windows 8, bundled with a docking station that I can connect to a multi-monitor setup, keyboard, mouse and surround sound.Only with a setup like this, will we see a benefit of having the Metro UI and Desktop UI in one operating system.why would you buy an overpriced 7" micro-tablet in order to plug it into a keyboard mouse multi-monitor setup? ...or is this supposed to be Star Trek in 2013?
    Reply
  • CaedenV
    hixbotGive me a 7" Tablet with a x86 CPU running x86 Windows 8, bundled with a docking station that I can connect to a multi-monitor setup, keyboard, mouse and surround sound.Only with a setup like this, will we see a benefit of having the Metro UI and Desktop UI in one operating system.yes! This is what I want too!

    Give me something portable that can do some things on the go, but can also be a power house when I need it to be!
    Reply