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Microsoft is announcing a new Surface Laptop Studio, along with the Surface Pro 8, Surface Go 3, a Surface Pro X with wi-fi and the second-generation Surface Duo smartphone.
Microsoft

Microsoft announced five new Surface products on Wednesday, including a laptop, three tablets and a new folding phone.

Microsoft doesn’t make a lot of money from hardware. Just 4% of the company’s revenue in the second quarter came from devices. The global PC market is led by Lenovo, HP, Dell and Apple, according to Gartner’s estimates.

While these enhancements might help maintain Surface revenue growth, it’s more likely they’ll promote the forthcoming Windows 11 operating system and Office productivity applications, both of which are more meaningful parts of Microsoft’s business, and inspire the work of fellow device makers.

Windows 11 comes out on Oct. 5, and the new PCs and phone Microsoft announced will launch at the same time. Pre-orders begin Wednesday in select markets. That means the devices are launching after the back-to-school shopping rush but will be coming in time for the holidays.

Here’s a rundown of the new Surface devices:

Surface Laptop Studio

Microsoft’s Surface Laptop Studio has a display you can tilt easily.
Microsoft

Microsoft announced its first Surface Laptop Studio computer, which draws inspiration from its all-in-one Surface Studio 2 desktop, which still hasn’t been refreshed since 2018. The $1,600 Surface Laptop Studio will replace Microsoft’s existing Surface Laptop and offers a new design.

It has a special hinge that lets you tilt the 14-inch display at an angle that covers the keyboard, which brings the screen closer and makes it easier to write on. Or, you can flip it over and use the Laptop Studio like a tablet. Unlike the Surface Laptop, however, the screen doesn’t detach.

Microsoft’s Surface Slim Pen 2 can be securely nestled near the bottom of the Surface Laptop Studio.
Jordan Novet | CNBC

Customers can conceal and charge the new $130 Surface Slim Pen 2 beneath the Surface Laptop Studio’s keyboard. The new Surface Pen has a finer point than the model it replaces and contains a motor that gives haptic feedback in response to events in some programs. A haptic trackpad on the computer provides a more pleasant clicking experience than previous Surface machines.

Surface Pro 8

Microsoft’s Surface Pro 8 has a new tray to securely store and charge the new Surface Slim Pen 2.
Microsoft

Microsoft also announced its flagship Surface Pro 8 tablet. The company reportedly delayed the release last year. The Surface Pro 8 starts at $1,100, compared with the $750 starting price of the Surface Pro 7, which came out in 2019.

The new model has a 13-inch display, which is larger than the 12.3-inch display on its predecessor, although the tablet is now slightly wider and heavier. The display has an adaptive color feature that adjusts the white balance to make viewing more comfortable. It’s been available on Apple’s MacBooks for years. The screen also has a dynamic refresh rate of up to 120Hz, which can help save battery life and makes scrolling smoother.

The Microsoft Surface Pro 8 with optional detachable keyboard.
Jordan Novet | CNBC

An optional $180 detachable keyboard has a spot to stow away and charge the new Slim Pen. Consumers can configure the new system with 11th-generation Intel Core chips and as much as 32GB of RAM. Microsoft said Pro 8 gets as much as 16 hours of battery life, compared with up to 10.5 hours on the Pro 7.

Surface Duo 2 phone

Microsoft’s Surface Duo 2 has a three-lens camera.
Microsoft

Microsoft’s first Surface Duo smartphone was a flop. It launched last year with buggy software and specs that were behind similarly priced phones. The new Surface Duo 2 delivers some of the features missing from last year’s model, like several new cameras, 5G support, near-field communications for mobile payments and stereo speakers. And it comes with the same Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 chip used in other flagship phones like Samsung’s latest Galaxy devices.

While the two screens of the Surface Duo are closed, the rounded edges of the glass can show the time, as well as the number of missed calls, Teams messages and text messages.
Jordan Novet | CNBC

Like last year’s version, the Surface Duo 2 opens up to reveal two 5.8-inch screens that can be used together. You might run one app on one screen and another on the opposite display, for example. Or, you can stretch a single app across both displays and take advantage of 8.3-inches of space.

The Surface Duo 2 features curved glass displays.
Microsoft

The displays have a 90hz refresh rate, which should make scrolling and moving around apps smoother. Another new feature: when closed, the phone will show small notifications along the hinge.

It still isn’t as water-resistant as other phones and doesn’t have wireless charging.

The Surface Duo 2 starts at $1,500, which is $100 more than the original. It will ship in white or black.

Surface Go 3

The Surface Go 3.
Microsoft

Microsoft refreshed its Surface Go 3, a miniature version of its Surface Pro tablet. It starts at $400, without the keyboard, and can be configured with up to an Intel Core i3 chip, which Microsoft says is 60% faster than the chip used in last year’s Surface Go 2.

The company said the Surface Go 3 gets up to 11 hours of battery life, while the older version got up to 10. A variant with built-in LTE connectivity will become available in the next few months but, notably, 5G support is missing.

Surface Pro X

Microsoft will release a wi-fi version of its Arm-based Surface Pro X.
Microsoft

Lastly, Microsoft announced a new Wi-Fi-only version of the Surface Pro X, a tablet that was first launched in 2019 with LTE cellular support. It’s the first version to come with just Wi-Fi and it costs $900, down just $100 from the original model, even though it has the same chip and lacks any other notable hardware changes.

But, Windows 11 will enable the device to run specific 64-bit apps through emulation. That could mean people will be able to run more apps than they could when the first model launched.

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Salesforce slump deepens as stock drops 7% on disappointing guidance

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Salesforce slump deepens as stock drops 7% on disappointing guidance

Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff attends the 55th annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Jan. 23, 2025.

Halil Sagirkaya | Anadolu | Getty Images

A bad year just got worse for Salesforce.

Following a disappointing revenue forecast in its quarterly earnings report late Wednesday, Salesforce’s stock slumped 8%, bringing its decline for 2025 to 28%. That’s the worst performance in large-cap tech.

Revenue increased 10% in the fiscal second quarter from a year earlier, cracking double-digit growth for the first time since early 2024. Sales of $10.24 billion topped the average analyst estimate of $10.14 billion, and earnings per share also exceeded expectations.

However, for the fiscal third quarter, Salesforce said revenue will be $10.24 billion to $10.29 billion, while analysts were expecting $10.29 billion, according to LSEG.

Salesforce regularly touts its investments in artificial intelligence and the advancements in its software as a service, or SaaS, but the company hasn’t been lifted by the AI boom in the same way as many of its tech peers — particularly those focused on infrastructure.

There’s also a concern on Wall Street that AI is going to eat away at much of the software sector.

“While the investor community oozes angst over the future of SaaS, the here and now from Salesforce, while impressive at scale, is not enough to reshape the narrative,” wrote analysts at KeyBanc Capital Markets, in a report on Wednesday. The analysts have a buy rating on the stock.

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Salesforce is dealing with challenges selling marketing and commerce products, Robin Washington, the company’s president and chief operating and financial officer, said on a conference call with analysts.

In its earnings release, Salesforce said it closed over 12,500 total deals for Agentforce, which can automate the handling of customer service questions. That includes 6,000 paid deals. The company said that over 40% of bookings for Agentforce and its data cloud came from existing customers.

CEO Marc Benioff maintained his optimistic tone, downplaying concerns about the AI threat to software and telling analysts on the earnings call that “we are seeing one of the greatest transformations” in the space.

“To hear some of this nonsense that’s out there in social media or in other places, and people say the craziest things, but it’s not grounded in any customer truth,” Benioff said.

Salesforce kept its full-year revenue outlook but now sees higher earnings. The company is targeting $11.33 to $11.37 in adjusted earnings per share on $41.1 billion to $41.3 billion in revenue.

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Figma’s stock slumps 18% after first earnings report to lowest since IPO

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Figma's stock slumps 18% after first earnings report to lowest since IPO

Figma shares continue to plunge on debut earnings call

Figma shares plummeted nearly 20% on Thursday, falling to the lowest price since the design software vendor’s IPO in July after the company reported earnings for the first time as a public company.

Results for the second quarter were largely inline with expectations, as Figma had issued preliminary results a little over a month ago. Revenue increased 41% from a year earlier to $249.6 million, slightly topping analyst estimates of $248.8 million, according to LSEG.

Analysts at Piper Sandler described the report as “largely a non-event,” but noted that the “shares have witnessed hyper-volatility” following their 250% surge in the trading debut.

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Since closing at $115.50 on its first day, the stock has lost more than half its value, lowering the company’s market cap to about $27 billion.

For the third quarter, Figma forecasted revenue of between $263 million and $265 million, which would represent about 33% growth at the middle of the range. The LSEG consensus was $256.8 million.

Figma’s IPO was significant for Silicon Valley and the tech sector broadly as it represented one of the highest-profile offerings in years and signaled Wall Street’s growing appetite for growth. The market had been in a multiyear lull that began in early 2022, when inflation was soaring and interest rates were on the rise.

Figma reported a 129% net retention rate, a reflection of expansion with existing customers. The figure was down from 132% in the first quarter.

— CNBC’s Jordan Novet contributed to this report.

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JetBlue to boost in-flight Wi-Fi with Amazon Project Kuiper internet deal

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JetBlue to boost in-flight Wi-Fi with Amazon Project Kuiper internet deal

A JetBlue Airways Airbus A321-231 departs San Diego International Airport en route to New York on March 4, 2025 in San Diego, California.

Kevin Carter | Getty Images

JetBlue Airways plans to install Amazon‘s Project Kuiper on some of its airplanes to bolster in-flight Wi-Fi, the companies announced Thursday, in a vote of confidence for the nascent internet satellite service.

The technology will be added to about a quarter of the airline’s fleet, with the rollout beginning in 2027 and expected to be complete in 2028, JetBlue President Marty St. George said on a call with reporters.

The team-up is a significant win for Amazon, which has been working to build a constellation of internet-beaming satellites in low-Earth orbit, called Project Kuiper. The service will compete directly with Elon Musk‘s Starlink, which currently dominates the market and has 8,000 satellites in orbit.

Amazon has sent up 102 satellites through a series of rocket launches since April. It’s aiming to meet a deadline by the Federal Communications Commission, which requires it to have about 1,600, or half of its full constellation, in orbit by the end of July 2026.

The company hopes to begin commercial service later this year.

“Even though we still have a lot more work to do, we’re super excited to have JetBlue as the first airline customer for Kuiper,” Chris Weber, Kuiper’s vice president of sales and marketing, told reporters.

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Starlink has signed up a growing number of airlines to use its services. JetBlue is Kuiper’s first airline partner, though Amazon has signed several deals recently as it tries to expand the service, including with European plane maker Airbus in April.

JetBlue has offered free in-flight internet for years through a partnership with Viasat, which operates a network of geostationary, or GEO, satellites. That partnership will continue, St. George said.

He praised Amazon’s satellite service, saying Kuiper offers high speed, low latency and high reliability compared with GEO satellite networks. JetBlue could eventually use a combination of low-Earth orbit and GEO satellites for in-flight internet, St. George added.

U.S. airlines have been working to improve their in-flight Wi-Fi, which has long been derided for slow speeds and high prices.

Delta Air Lines followed JetBlue in unveiling complimentary connectivity in 2023 for its SkyMiles loyalty program members. Hawaiian Airlines is using Starlink for free in-flight Wi-Fi, and Alaska Airlines, which acquired that carrier last year, recently said it would outfit its planes with the same service.

United Airlines is also working to equip its planes to offer its loyalty program members free Wi-Fi through Starlink. American Airlines, for its part, in April said it plans to have free in-flight internet on most of its planes next year for members of its AAdvantage program.

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