If there is one thing that should be next on Microsoft’s agenda, it is to step in front of the world and use the media to throw in some accurate sales figures of its latest operating system.
Why? For the sole reason that analysts around the world continue to blast Windows 8, like it alone is responsible for all the evil in the world.
Windows 8 uptake is still below expectations, this much is known, but while the OS is slowly increasing its market share, analysts and market watchers are just not pleased with how things are going with Microsoft’s new platform.
Market research firm IDC recently revealed that Windows 8 made no difference this first quarter of the year as far as sales and shipments in the PC industry were concerned.
And now Nomura analyst Rick Sherlund has revealed to the Wall Street Journal that Microsoft’s latest and greatest is still suffering from sluggish adoption, five months into release:
“The combination of Windows 8’s sluggish adoption and the absence of compelling new hardware have been disappointing, with no relief likely until later this year. We would be more hesitant in putting new money into the stock and prefer to sit on the sidelines and reassess the upgrade cycle as we go into the second half.”
As a result, Nomura has downgraded Microsoft shares rating from “Buy” down to “Neutral”.
This is in addition to a host of analysts that have criticized Windows 8 in the last couple of weeks. Microsoft, for its part, is still mum on sales figures, and still maintains the figure of 60 million licenses the world over — in the first couple of months on the market.
