Microsoft Surface tablet

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has acknowledged that the company overestimated demand for its Surface tablets, and manufactured too many of them. Ballmer said: "We built a few more devices than we could sell."

The pricing for Surface RT was cut by 30 percent in early July, and recently the company announced a $900 million charge in its Q4 earnings, which reflected the price cut.

Starting from early next week, Microsoft will be increasing the production of its Surface and Windows RT tablets, and is seeking to greaten the amount of retailers through which it can distribute its branded device.

Although the particular names of retail outlets were not released by Microsoft, the office supply store, Staples, has announced that it will be selling the product as of next Wednesday.