Microsoft to launch new Surface hardware later this year

Microsoft seems to be gearing up to launch new Surface products. According to the comments made by company executives during its fiscal third quarter results conference, the company is planning new Surface devices for later this year.

Microsoft's Surface business saw a growth of 32 percent year-over-year, and the numbers are expected to grow even further in its fiscal fourth quarter and into fiscal 2019 starting July 1 due to an updated Surface hardware portfolio.

"We expect Surface revenue growth in the high teens as we continue to transition to the latest products in our portfolio," said Amy Hood, executive vice president and chief financial officer at Microsoft. She also said that the company saw better than expected performance from its latest Surface Book.

The company witnessed saw immense growth across the board in its fiscal third quarter, with its Azure-branded cloud platform on top with a 93 percent year-over-year growth. It is followed by Dynamics 365 that saw a 65-percent growth and Office 365 commercial with a 42 percent growth. Besides, LinkedIn also saw 37 percent growth. Microsoft's gaming division grew by 18 percent year-on-year, while the Xbox software and services alone saw a growth of 24 percent.

"Our results this quarter reflect the trust people and organizations are placing in the Microsoft Cloud," Nadella said in a press release. "We are innovating across key growth categories of infrastructure, AI, productivity, and business applications to deliver differentiated value to customers."
According to the company, LinkedIn sessions increased by 30 percent, leading to a 37 percent increase in revenue compared to the same quarter in fiscal 2017. In the same time Office 365 subscriptions reached 30.6 million which a 12 percent increase in the revenue.

News about new Surface hardware in coming months shouldn't come as a surprise. Microsoft's BUILD developer conference begins May 7, 2018 and could serve as a launchapad for upcoming Surface devices. The company is due to revamp its Surface Studio, Surface Laptop, Surface Book, and Surface Pro hardware. The company is also said to be working on some kind of a Surface Phone or Surface Notepad.

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Microsoft is also on the verge of unveiling an AI-driven hardware according to company's AI and Research Group executive vice president, Harry Shum. The new product will be a part of company's vision to integrate AI into every product offered by Microsoft. Shum also says that these products will be "very, very exciting."