Business

Tablets provide no relief

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has a problem: The PC world his company once dominated is fading away and his efforts to wow the tablet world are failing.

The double-whammy showed itself in quarterly results in which Microsoft revealed it is eating the bill for $900 million worth of Surface tablets.

The tablets went to market last year, and were supposed to be Microsoft’s showcase for its Windows 8 mobile platform.

The other shoe dropped yesterday when Microsoft shares tumbled more than 11 percent following the earnings miss to close at $31.40.

It was the worst one-day hit Microsoft shares have seen since 2000. Earlier this week the stock had been above $36.

“The PC may have reached its peak in 2011, and Microsoft is still struggling to get traction with tablets and smartphones,” wrote analyst Colin Gillis of BGC Partners in a note to clients yesterday.

Citigroup’s Walter Pritchard called it a “sloppy quarter.”