Microsoft's Surface business is in bad shape. The latest fiscal report from the tech giant indicated of retreating sales figures for the hardware division, blamed chiefly on aging Surface models and cheaper price tag from the competition. To counter the slide, will Microsoft soon press the release date button for the Surface Pro 5 and Surface Phone?
That appears to be the sensible thing to do as Microsoft admitted of 26 percent dip on revenue for the Surface business, and the downward trend is only seen to continue. According to Tech Radar, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella admitted: "This quarter our Surface results fell short of expectations, impacted by end of product lifecycle and increased price competition."
True enough, Microsoft's current Surface offering is unappealing. Per Extreme Tech, buyers are likely turned off by the fact that the Surface Pro 4 is nearing its second year in circulation and there is no clear indication of an upcoming refresh. And the SP4 sticker price is also not inviting, the relatively higher tag seems to convince shoppers to get the cheaper and equally capable rivals instead.
And as the same report noted, the Windows Phones is essentially dead, a fact that Microsoft underscored with the admission: "We had no material Phone revenue this quarter." Such scenario will still be seen in the coming quarters if rumors are correct that a Microsoft-made smartphone, likely the Surface Phone, would not materialize until 2018, at the earliest.
So will Microsoft pull off a surprise and unleash a Surface device anytime soon. Unless the company is resigned to the fact that its Surface business will only get battered in the next few quarters, a Surface device rollout will need to happen real soon, Tech Radar said.
To at least arrest the declining interest on the line, the same report proposed the immediate launch of the Surface Pro 5 and Microsoft can worry about the sequel to the Surface Book later since it's essentially a niche product. The SP5, notwithstanding the report from Paul Thurrott that it will only be a minor upgrade from the Pro 4, will at least keep the fire burning for the Surface line.
And perhaps to drum up interest, Microsoft should consider price mark downs if not for the fresh releases then at least for the old models.
As for the Surface Phone, rumors persist the "ultimate mobile device," teased earlier by Nadella will only be ready following the deployment of Windows 10 Redstone 3 Update. Hence the safe bet for the handset release date is between late 2017 and early 2018.