Surface to be handed to more than 4,500 resellers

More details of Microsoft's Surface channel expansion revealed in 8-K filing

Microsoft has released some more specific information about its expanded Surface distribution strategy in an 8-K filing which reveals the performance of some individual products and business units.

At its Worldwide Partner Conference in Orlando last week, Microsoft announced it is expanding its distribution strategy on Surface and increasing the number of partners that can sell it from "a few hundred to a few thousand" globally.

It refused to be drawn on specific numbers at the time, but in an 8-K filing posted this week, its chief operating officer Kevin Turner gave more details.

"We are expanding the opportunity for more partners to sell Surface, and in the coming months will go from over 150 to more than 4,500 resellers globally," he said.

This represents a 3,000 per cent increase in the number of partners that can sell the product and a stark turnaround in the distribution strategy. Before this move, a small number of hand-picked partners in certain countries were authorised to sell the product.

The 8-K filing also revealed that in Q4, which ended 30 June, Surface revenue rocketed 117 per cent annually to $888m (£574m), "driven by the Surface Pro 3 and the launch of Surface 3".

Microsoft's commercial cloud sales also grew in Q4, up 88 per cent year on year. It said strong Office 365, Azure, Dynamics and CRM Online now has an annualised revenue run rate of more than $8bn.

"In our commercial business we continue to transform the product mix to annuity cloud solutions and now have 75,000 partners transacting in our cloud," Turner said.