Microsoft to launch Surface Pro 4 with Windows 10 in October

The successor to the current Surface Pro 3 tablet will see a market roll-out in October, suggests a new report.

Microsoft has notified its upstream supply chain to start mass shipment of components in September to be used in its new Surface Pro 4 tablet, likely to hit stores in October, reports DigiTimes citing sources from the supply chain.

In terms of design, the tablet will sport the similar ultra-thin form factor, bezel size and large display we have seen in the previous Surface line-ups. But the new device would receive a processor upgrade, through Intel's new Skylake processor, as well as in its operating system, Windows 10, the sources said.

Microsoft's Surface Pro series shipment totalled 200,000-250,000 units per month, but with the Surface Pro 3, the shipment volume grew to more than 300,000 units. For the next generation Surface Pro tablet, Microsoft is reportedly expecting the monthly shipment to hit 500,000-600,000 units.

According to recent reports from market research firms Gartner and IDC, worldwide PC shipments have declined 10%, but new devices integrating tablet and PC seem to hold potential in the enterprise market. Therefore Microsoft has been aggressively adding tablets to its Surface range, in a bid to create business opportunities.