Surface revenue does a U-boat, and dives

Revenue generated by Microsoft's Surface hardware during the March quarter was down 26% from the same period the year before, the company said yesterday as it briefed Wall Street.

For the quarter, Surface produced $831 million, some $285 million less than the March quarter of 2016, for the largest year-over-year dollar decline ever.

Microsoft blamed the portfolio's age and increased competition from hardware partners for the fall-off. "Our Surface results fell short of expectations impacted by end-of-product-lifecycle and increased price competition," contended Satya Nadella, Microsoft's CEO, in the Thursday earnings call.

The Surface Pro 4, the portfolio's top seller, was introduced in October 2015, and has not been refreshed since then.

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