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Microsoft Cranks Up Surface Pro Orders As Harvey Norman Place $34M PC Order

By David Richards| 23 Oct 2015


	According to DigiTimes Microsoft has increased monthly shipments to 500,000 units for the fourth quarter, up 60% from 300,000 units originally. According to a Microsoft source the increased orders are a “direct result of increased retail orders”. “We believe that retailers in Australia are moving to consolidate around selected brands and Microsoft is one of those brands”. an executive said. ChannelNews understands that Harvey Norman is set to mount heavy promotions for Hewlett Packard PC’s after placing a $34M order for stock. The stock is believed to be heavily discounted. another brand set to be heavily suppported by both Harvey Norman and JB Hi Fi is Lenovo who recently launched a new all in one PC and the Lenovo Yoga 900 Pro a direct and cheaper competitor to the Surface Pro 4. The Surface Pro 4 features a 12.3-inch display and Intel’s Skylake processor which boosts performance by 30% compared to the Surface Pro 3 and 50% compared to the MacBook Air, according to manufacturing sources in Taiwan. Microsoft sold about 1.5 million Surface Pros in the first half, according to Gartner, up significantly from the first half of 2014. The sources expect the Surface series’ overall shipments to reach 4-5 million units in 2015. Currently, Microsoft’s Surface 2-in-1 shipments only account for around 1% of overall Wintel PC shipments because it is seen as being expensive. Several PC brand vendors have told ChannelNews that they see Microsoft as a serious threat but are tied to the brand because of Windows 10 which failed to lift sales of PC’s following it’s release on the 29th of July. still find the product line a threat since the PC market is gradually shrinking and vendors have been looking to expand their high-end product lines to boost profits. With China-based smartphone brand vendors Xiaomi and Huawei planning to expand into the notebook industry to compete for the entry-level and mid-range markets, and Microsoft and Apple threatening the high-end market, PC brand vendors are expected to face more difficulties to achieve growth.

About Post Author

David Richards has been writing about technology for more than 30 years. A former Fleet Street journalist, he wrote the Award Winning Series on the Federated Ships Painters + Dockers Union for the Bulletin that led to a Royal Commission. He is also a Logie Winner for Outstanding Contribution To TV Journalism with a story called The Werribee Affair. In 1997, he built the largest Australian technology media company and prior to that the third largest PR company that became the foundation company for Ogilvy PR. Today he writes about technology and the impact on both business and consumers.