Global shipments of Microsoft's top-end Surface Studio all-in-one PC during the fourth quarter were originally estimated at 15,000 units mainly because its prices of US$2,999, US$3,499 and US$4,199 are much higher than other AIO PCs', but actually may reach 30,000 units based on orders, and Microsoft has ordered 30,000 units to be shipped in the first quarter of 2017, according to Taiwan-based supply chain makers.

The Surface Studio was launched in October.

Worldwide all-in-one PC shipments are seeing an about 3-5% on-year drop each year, and the volume in 2017 is also expected to decline. Apple ships about 3.5-4 million all-in-one PCs a year and is the second-largest all-in-one PC vendor worldwide behind Lenovo, according to Digitimes Research.

Since Apple has not made any major upgrades to its iMac product line, sources believe Microsoft's new all-in-one PC products are likely to snatch some demand from Apple.