During the last week, Microsoft submitted its earning reports from the third quarter of 2016. The revenue was increased compared to previous quarters mostly thanks to increased sales of Microsoft Office, Microsoft’s server space and products from Microsoft’s Cloud most notably the Azure. Their deals with the cloud have made a lot of revenue and increased their stock price beyond $60, and this is a number that Microsoft didn’t have since 1999.
The main culprit for these numbers is Microsoft’s Surface hardware that includes Surface Pro 4 and Surface Book.
Microsoft is, as it could be expected, very pleased with Surface earnings. The revenue that they had in past quarter can be attributed to Surface since it finally started to deliver what was anticipated from it. This device is directly competing with every other hardware offering currently on the market. Despite heavy competition, it’s the second only to Apple in terms of sales and market share. The company was facing some difficulties as of lately to improve sales of Surface Pro 4 and Surface Book compared to Apple iPad and Mac counterparts.
In spite trailing behind Apple, people in Microsoft are satisfied. Their goal is not to go into war with Apple over the fact ‘who will sell more’. Instead, they are aiming to create a strong brand, to create a large circle of loyal supporters and to show the worth of Windows 10 and that it can offer something fresh and inventive. They want their Surface products, which are a real world showing of Microsoft and its capabilities, to be something that they together with their users can be proud of.
One of the main reasons for the great success of this story, together with their quality, is their on-line promotion. Microsoft is saving no money on advertising the Surface line. Compared to the Surface RT hardware that was launched in 2002, the current edition is light-years ahead. The first one was not accepted with opened arms by the community and has failed to establish itself on the market. The latest version is being widely accepted and rapidly increases its fan-base. In fact, it is generally considered to be the best Windows-powered device out there.
Surface hardware has managed to convince people to trust Microsoft once again and to show them the benefits of using Windows 10, Microsoft Cloud and Microsoft as a unity.
At the moment this device is not posing a real threat to the rivals MacBook and iPad lineup, but it is aiming in the long term to shake Apple position on the market.
The debut of the new Surface all-in-one is being expected for the end of October, and Microsoft believes that it will help them to expand their family. With new installments, Microsoft will take a bigger slice of the market and its presence will be felt like it hasn’t been in years. That is the main goal of this company. To create a strong brand, to slowly take the market, create loyal consumers base and not to go into the direct clash with MacBook.
