Microsoft hails revival of its Surface arm

MICROSOFT’S Surface business is making more than $4bn (£3bn) per year, marking a revival for the company’s tablet and laptop division.

Panos Panay, Microsoft’s chief product officer, said the company had recorded more than $1bn every three months in its Surface business ahead of the release of a new tablet, the Surface Go, this week.

Microsoft has spent the last 12 months revamping its Surface range, which had seen revenues slip and struggled to break the back of a sluggish tablet market.

“When you look at Surface, it’s a key end-to-end business for Microsoft,” Mr Panay told The Daily Telegraph.

“You see the growth year-on-year, it is over $1bn in revenue over the last four consecutive quarters.”

The company will be hoping to build on its revived Surface range with the new hybrid tablet, the Surface Go, which is its cheapest tablet model, priced at £379.99 to compete with the likes of Apple’s ipad.