Microsoft's Surface business is still booming

Microsoft's Surface concept has gone from being a joke to becoming a significant part of its business. Sales of Surfaces devices jumped 38 percent during the last quarter (Q1 2017) reaching $926 million, compared to a year ago when they were just $672 million, according to Microsoft's latest earnings report. The company points to increased sales of the Surface Pro 4 and Surface Book for the drive. CEO Satya Nadella also noted that enterprise orders of 500 or more Surface devices have increased by 70 percent.

The Surface's success isn't too surprising, though. The product line crossed the billion-dollar mark in early 2015, and it's been steadily growing over the past year. While Patriots coach Bill Belichick might disagree, Microsoft's most recent Surface devices are perfectly positioned to satiate the increasing desire for convertible laptops and tablets. Heck, Microsoft pretty much started the category (though the initial going was admittedly rough).