Microsoft CEO: Sales of Surface Tablet Modest

Nevertheless, Microsoft is having trouble keeping supply up with demand

Both Windows 8 and Microsoft Surface have been on sale for more than two weeks, and the big question is: How are they doing? Although Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has already revealed the company sold 4 million downloads of Windows 8 in its first weekend, the only thing he has said about sales of the Surface is that they're "modest."

Ballmer made his comments to France's Le Parisien when he was in Paris to promote the worldwide launch of Windows 8. Surface sales "are starting modestly," he told the paper, a tacit confession that it hasn't been a runaway hit for Microsoft. While few expected it would be, Microsoft clearly has high hopes for its home-built tablet, which is meant to showcase Windows 8 as a new platform for touch-enabled apps.