Yesterday we reported that Microsoft had managed to bring in an impressive $21.46 billion in revenue for the 4th quarter. After reporting on its earnings, there was a follow up Q&A and CFO Peter Klein presented a very optimistic attitude in regards to Windows 8 and all of its products.
Klein stated that they are just getting started with Windows 8 and the best is yet to come. The CFO touched on the subject that supplies were low to begin with for certain in-demand PCs, and that had been a small part of the problem for Windows 8. By mentioning this, Microsoft basically somewhat confirmed earlier reports that Microsoft internally blamed vendors for early Windows 8 woes.
Going forward though, Klein said that 2013 will see a wider adoption of the new OS thanks to an expanding level of great products later this year. We’ve already seen several Windows 8 touch laptops and ultrabooks, and we continue to see more tablets and other touch products, which falls in line with everything Microsoft said at the Q&A.
Touching on the Windows 8 Store app situation, Klein said, “While the number of apps in the Windows Store quadrupled, we clearly have more work to do. We need more rich, immersive apps that give users access to content that inform, entertains and inspires.”
The bottom-line? Microsoft understands that they had a good quarter but that Windows 8 had a few early hiccups along the way. They present a united front going forward though and believe that great new products will soon win more customers over.
Are they right to be optimistic or are they just putting on a happy face for the investors? That’s really hard to say for sure at this point. We do know that the Surface Pro comes out later this month and I truly believe we will continue to see quite a few interesting things over the next few months, including hopefully a few fun new announcements at MWC.
Speaking of the Surface, it is worth noting that Microsoft did not reveal official numbers for how many were sold but simply said that the Surface RT had limited distribution in much of the fourth quarter. Putting together what many analysts have said, it is believed about 1 million Surfaces were sold.
While this clearly isn’t “iPad sale levels”, it isn’t half-bad for a brand new ecosystem with a very limited retail presence. Microsoft’s Windows 8 and Windows RT are far from failures, and 2013 is going to be an important year.
Microsoft still has a lot to prove in order to win consumers over to the changes found in Windows 8 and RT, but I believe they can do it. What do you think, will consumers start to embrace Windows 8 or it take a few years before customers truly recognize the potential of the new START UI?
All Comments
the most important sentence is:
‘Microsoft’s Windows 8 and Windows RT are far from failures, and 2013 is going to be an important year.’
i completely agree with that. thats the Point. and there are still people out there who believe Windows 8 is the next Vista …
Oh so true. Those declaring Windows 8 a failure will do so for some time to come I guess. At first, their outspokenness seemed to acutally have an effect, but I think as more and more people use it, this view will change. Not as fast as MS would like I fear, as sales ramp up, expect more change aversion, but I think this should subside by the end of this new year. I dont have as pretty of forcast for MS as they hope, however. I think it will take until next year for manufactures to really hit the grove of what Windows 8 can do. Apple if you are not paying attention, you have just one year to produce the next generation of computers. If you dont, MS is going to crush your dropping stock.
Win8 is far frombeing Vista. Vista has both hardware and software problems. But Win8 has none. The only problem is people are not yet familiar with the new UI. But give it time, they will finally get used to it. They have no other feasible choice. Not many could afford to buy MBA for each of their kids and themselves.