Today, Microsoft announced in its blog that it would add new commercial distribution partners in 17 countries for the company's Surface tablets. Last month, Microsoft introduced the latest commercial channels for the sales of Surface tablets in the US.

"This expansion continues to be via a select ecosystem of established channel partners with the precise geographical reach, tablet selling experience and commercial value-added services capabilities to deliver the type of business experience our customers need," Microsoft said.

Microsoft's latest channel partners would be added in Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and United Kingdom. The company's new associate would be able to sell Microsoft's Surface Pro and Surface RT tablets. They could also give an extended warranty and accidental dent coverage. Furthermore, they would be allowed to provide an onsite service and support. Starting today, the Surface tablets would already be available from the resellers in the said nations.

In July this year, Microsoft revealed that it earned USD835 million from the Surface tablets. However, it dealt with a write-down worth USD900 million and advertisement costs of around USD898 million.