Sales of Windows 8 are far from what Microsoft  hoped. Early signs from companies like Net Applications are dismal -- and some Microsoft partners are complaining about missing targets.
Only 1.7 percent of desktops, notebooks and laptops that were connected to the Web in December were Windows 8 machines, according to Net Applications. That compares with a 21 percent market share for Windows 7 during the same point in its lifecycle. That means, roughly, Microsoft is off to a 20 percentage-point slower start with its re-imagined Windows.
"Now it's clear: Windows 8 did not blow the doors off during the holiday," said Roger Kay, principal analyst at End Time Technologies Associates. "In context, this tepid launch is just one of a litany of failures fast relegating Microsoft to the status of incidental spectacle in the information technology business."
Is Microsoft Blind?
As Kay sees it, Microsoft has reached an "Orwellian impasse" in which the company cannot tell the truth -- even to itself. Kay told us Microsoft is blinded by its own hallucinations about how the market is operating. The result, he said, is that its pronouncements entirely lack credibility.
Even its partners aren't fully backing the new Windows. Fujitsu is missing its annual shipment target for personal computers in the face of tepid demand for Windows 8 PCs. Fujitsu President Masami Yamamoto told reporters in Tokyo that appetite for the new operating system was "weak," according to Bloomberg.
"We can't be optimistic about the PC industry," Bloomberg reported Yoshihisa Toyosaki, a Tokyo-based analyst at Architect Grand Design, an electronics research and consulting company, as saying. "PC makers' bet on Windows 8 has failed, as cheaper tablet computers are taking away customers."
NPD Group reports that U.S. retail sales of devices running Windows dipped 21 percent year-over-year in the month following the Oct. 26 release of Windows 8. NPD said a 24 percent drop in notebook sales fueled the decline and Apple and Android were beneficiaries.
Craig Mundie Shifts Roles
Meanwhile, Craig Mundie is stepping away from his role as chief research and strategy officer at Microsoft into what Redmond is calling "senior adviser to the CEO."
"In this role, he works on key strategic projects within the company, as well as with government and business leaders around the world on technology policy, regulation and standards," an updated biography on Microsoft's Web site said.
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer announced the move in a Dec. 14 internal memo that The Wall Street Journal's AllThingsD blog published. In the memo, Ballmer wrote:
"Over his career, Craig has brought great value to the groups and initiatives he has started and overseen and now brings that wealth of experience to his new role. Craig has also been instrumental in building relationships with governments and policymakers around the world."
Russellghall:
Posted: 2013-01-06 @ 2:24pm PT
It's awesome that Fujitsu would complain about sales. I addressed this specifically in another article: http://rghnews.wordpress.com/2012/12/29/fujitsu-windows-8-complaint/
Once Fujitsu addresses their strategy, sales will increase.
Frank Cobden:
Posted: 2013-01-04 @ 9:24pm PT
From what I see, the problem dealers are having is that the customers, some of whom are eager to try something new, are disappointed by the new interface unless on a touchscreen device. Instead of helping new PC sales, it is backfiring badly and actually hurting the industry. They wanted an OS that works as well on all types of devices, but truly miscalculated on what PC users would find acceptable. So what now? Do they scrap 8 early and come out with 8A or a "9" that is PC friendly? The logical solution is to extend Windows 7 sales while withdrawing 8 for PC users, but there is way too much pride and ego involved for them to even consider that. So I think we're in for a long period of Microsoft waiting for 8 sales to take off, which will never happen either, until they finally do something about the situation.
W:
Posted: 2013-01-04 @ 6:38pm PT
Windows 8 will go down in history as a bigger mistake than Vista. In both cases they took an operating system that wasn't broken and broke it into something confusing and awkward for the average user. Windows 8, or something equivalent, should have been released separately for phones and tablets and never should have been released for conventional desktop and laptop.
Marek:
Posted: 2013-01-02 @ 10:51am PT
I think Windows 8 is really much better operating system than any previous Windows. It is leaner, faster and more reliable. The problem is the new interface that does not introduce anything significant to desktop users, because all touch capabilities were already there in Windows 7. Tiles take too much space and allow for use of only two programs at the same time. This is good for smartphone, small tablet. It is not good for a large tablet and desktop computer. More, it is useless for desktop from my point of usage. If I want touch I have it and I had it in windows 7 desktop applications already. Everything is/was there. The large tiles look too big and fuzzy on the large screen, they look good on small screen only. The new style programs are showing too much of empty space. What's the point to see one or two small boxes of a program operating in full screeen mode? We had it already under DOS. I see no gain at all here for a desktop user and I bypass tiles going directly to the desktop, which is running truly outstanding all programs.
If someone claims that tiles are great as a menu system, I do not agree either. It is visually very difficult to see what program is connected to its tile. One can find such things much easier in any form of text menu, which on top of that can be fitted into one display's screen without need for scrolling or sideways moving. All systems (ios, android too) use this approach, let's say, to stay "in touch" with the user and all of them have the same problem: too much scrolling and too much time in looking for the program one wants to find. In this respect Windows 8 phone's alphabetical menu is the simplest and the best.
|
