Microsoft’s Panos Panay, who heads up the Microsoft Surface hardware line, is slated to deliver a keynote address at the company’s Future Decoded event Oct. 31 through Nov. 1, where the company is expected to unveil “at least one new device,” according to a report by The Verge this morning.
The timing coincides with the traditional fall launch period for new devices in advance of the peak holiday shopping season. Mary Jo Foley of ZDNet reports that the most likely product to be unveiled is a successor to the company’s Surface Book detachable notebook computer, which was originally unveiled in 2015.
Microsoft is looking for its next hit Surface device. Surface revenue has been declining in recent quarters, a trend the company attributed to the end of the life cycle for some Surface devices, and increased price competition. Surface Pro was released in October 2015 along with Surface Book, making them ripe for a refresh.
The company unveiled its Surface Laptop earlier this year, geared for education, shipping with the stripped-down Windows 10 S operating system.
Microsoft positions its Surface lineup in part as guidance for third-party hardware makers to demonstrate new types of devices and form factors that can take the market in new directions.
