Reports have surfaced detailing Microsoft's current struggle with its tablet hybrid lineup. This led to speculations that the Redmond-based tech giant may be considering an early release for a new Surface Pro follow-up.

According to Fox News, the new iPad Pro lineup from Apple is currently enjoying a bigger market share in tablet hybrid sales than the current sales figures of the Microsoft Surface Pro 4. Reportedly, the original 12.9-inch iPad Pro already has an impressive lead over its competitors. With the expansion of the lineup, adding the versatile and new 9.7-inch iPad Pro, it is expected that the Apple tablet lineup will further advance in the market.

Although the current-gen Surface Pro 4 is ahead in terms of specs and performance, it is said that its wider range of iterations is also a disadvantage. Reportedly, a base-model iPad Pro with 32GB of storage can perform as well as a base model of Surface Pro 4 with 128GB storage. Although the Apple slate has a limited storage, users usually have their own cloud-based drives to store data in.

The price of the Apple slate is roughly $799, against a base model Surface Pro 4 at $899.

With the larger market share being driven by Apple, it is said that Microsoft is readying a Surface Pro 4 follow-up. Allegedly, the Surface Pro 5 is slated to appear by mid-2016, although the rumors remain unconfirmed. Reportedly, Microsoft is waiting for the next-gen Intel processors to undergo mass production since the new Kaby Lake processors will power the new Surface Pro. However, there are reports that the new chipsets will not come out of assembly until after the holidays. Should Microsoft continue to wait, this means that the original 2016 release of the Surface Pro 5 will more likely be delayed, and may even be pushed back to early 2017.