Report: 1.5 million Microsoft Surface Tablets sold to date

Since the Microsoft Surface tablets launched, first the Microsoft Surface RT and then the more expensive Microsoft Surface Pro, we've had nothing but guesses as to how the tablets did in the market. Microsoft wasn't talking, and the estimates that we received were all over the place.When the Microsoft Surface Pro launched, the 128GB version quickly sold out, followed by the 64GB unit. Some conspiracy theorists believed that Microsoft had kept the number of tablets available low so as to guarantee the sell out.

Now, we have a brand new estimate of sales from three people who do not want to be named because the sales numbers have yet to be officially released. According to the trio, more than 1 million of the Microsoft Surface RT tablets have been purchased. This is the version of the tablet that is powered by an ARM-supported chip and competes with traditional tablets like the Apple iPad and Android models. The trio also said that more than 400,000 Microsoft Surface Pro tablets have been purchased. The "Pro" tablets have "Intel Inside" and run the legacy apps from your desktop PC.

So together, the estimate is that 1.5 million Surface Tablet units have been sold, both variants combined. This might be considered a disappointment for Microsoft considering that Brent Thill, an analyst at UBS AG, said that the Redmond based tech titan had ordered 3 million Microsoft Surface RT units. Thill had expected 2 million of the tablets to be sold in the fourth quarter alone.

Does Microsoft have any game plan to try to get the Surface tablets going, or is it too late already?

source: Bloomberg via WPCentral