A challenger in the tablet wars has come up short. Microsoft’s Surface has failed to deliver on the firm’s conservative sales goal during the device’s first three months on the market.

The Surface registered nearly 750,000 units sold in its first quarter of availability, below the target of just over 1 million, according to iSuppli via CNet. In addition, a number of Surfaces have reportedly been returned by consumers.

To put the sales figures in perspective, during the most recent quarter, Apple sold over 22 million iPads.

Consumers may be wondering whether the device is headed the way of the Zune, a digital music player that's no longer produced.