Microsoft's outgoing chief financial officer Peter Klein has fuelled rumours that the firm is about to enter the burgeoning 7-inch tablet market, Digital Spy said.

Smaller touchscreen devices running the Windows operating system are scheduled to arrive on the market "in the coming months", Klein said during the firm's third-quarter earnings call.

He revealed that "a new suite of small touch devices powered by Windows" will soon be competing with the likes of the iPad mini and the Google Nexus 7, according to CNET.

Klein's comments appear to support a recent Wall Street Journal report claiming that Microsoft has already begun work on a tablet device with a 7-inch display.

Although it is yet to be confirmed whether Microsoft will develop the product itself, its recent move into the tablet hardware market with Surface indicates that this is a possibility.

Microsoft reported profits of $6bn (£3.92bn) for the first three months of 2013, a 17% year-on-year upturn.