Microsoft entered the PC hardware market for the first time in late October with the launch of the Surface RT tablet, followed by the Surface Pro in February. While Microsoft has yet to release any official shipments or sales numbers for its Surface products, IDC claims that in the first quarter of 2013, the company shipped 900,000 of its tablets.
Even against the backdrop of these modest initial sales, a report claims that Microsoft has some highly ambitious Surface sales goals for its upcoming 2014 fiscal year, which begins on July 1st, 2013. Paul Thurrott writes on WinSuperSite that, according to an unnamed source that he claims "has proven reliable in recent weeks", Microsoft wants to sell a whopping 25 million Surface tablets during its next fiscal year.
The same article claims Microsoft is aiming to be the number one provider of tablets for the enterprise market in its next fiscal year, along with the number two seller of tablets to retail stores in the same time period. Microsoft will also reportedly seize any opportunity to try to get Surface products used in the educational market.
Microsoft also plans to amp up its marketing efforts for the Surface, according to the article, and will sell the tablets in more countries in the next year, including India. It claims Microsoft's internal budget for the Surface is a massive $4.4 billion.
If this source turns out to be correct in terms of Microsoft's own internal sales goals for the Surface, it would be a huge turnaround for the tablet family of products. One thing that might help is a cheaper and smaller version, and the company is rumored to be developing an eight inch Surface model that could be revealed in June.
Source: WinSupersite
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