Microsoft Surface sales continue to climb

Microsoft Surface sales improved yet again at the end of 2015, the company's latest quarterly earnings report shows. The Surface Pro 4 and the Surface Book, the company's latest in its line of premium tablet/laptop hybrids, helped push up Surface revenues by 29 percent to $1.35 billion. Phone revenues, on the other hand, declined 49 percent, which is unsurprising since Microsoft has been struggling to find a place for Windows in the smartphone market for a while. Microsoft has been de-emphasizing smartphones, as it has found little success there. There are rumors of a Surface Phone in the works, but Microsoft has not mentioned it and other companies are already testing the market for full Windows on smartphones.

Microsoft is now transitioning to offering services on all platforms, but Windows 8 and Windows 10 have allowed the company to help push forward the new hybrid device market, which is one of the few PC sub-markets still seeing growth. As PC and tablet sales decline overall, consumers are showing that what they really want is a tablet that functions as a PC or vice versa. This is what the Surface Pro and Surface Book offer. Other manufacturers have been following this vision with their own designs such as the Lenovo Yoga, or with devices that imitate the Surface design very closely.

Microsoft's latest financial report further reinforced the fact that tablet/laptop hybrids continue to be a strong market. Windows has helped push this area forward by allowing tablets to become useful work machines, giving users the option to install programs they already use and are familiar with. Intel’s push in China has also led many manufacturers from the country to focus on Windows tablets, many now offering keyboard docks that effectively transform the tablets into full laptops.