[NewsPoster]

Microsoft sold only 1 million units of its Surface tablet over the holidays, according to new estimates. Analysts at UBS made the estimate, reducing it down from the previous 2 million thought would be sold during the period, despite efforts from the Redmond software giant to get the tablet into more retail locations in order to boost sales.

Brent Thill of UBS speaking to Business Insider remained optimistic on the Surface line, suggesting that the Surface Pro will be "strong with corporations," thanks to it's Intel processor, and would be a strong alternative to the iPad. In comparison, Apple is speculated to have sold over 20 million iPads during the same period. The million units of sales is not much of a failure to Microsoft, suggests The Next Web. At an average sale price of $500, caused by sales of the Touch and Type covers, this equates to half a billion dollars in sales. Considering that the Surface RT has not been on sale for long, and that the Surface Pro is due to be released in the near future, a million in sales could be seen as a promising start to the Surface brand, and could grow in the coming months.