Microsoft's Surface Hardware Business Shrunk By $285 Million — And It's Weirdly A Good Thing For Microsoft (msft)

Melia Robinson/Business InsiderMicrosoft reported earnings today, showing solid growth in its all-important Office 365 and Microsoft Azure cloud computing businesses. Still, it wasn't all good news. The Microsoft Surface hardware business, encompassing the Surface Pro tablet, Surface Book laptop, and Surface Studio desktop PC, shrunk revenues 26%, a $285 million decrease, over the same period in 2016. The reason for the decline, according to Microsoft: "increased price competition in the premium 2-in-1 category and product end-of-lifecycle dynamics." No doubt, that's not great news for the Surface business.