The retirement of Windows XP is, once again, the talking point as PC shipments across the globe dropped by significant margins in the first quarter of 2015.
Data published by IDC reveals that sales of computer hardware in Europe, the Middle East and Africa regions (collectively known as EMEA) reached 20.2 million units in the first three months of the year. This is a decline of 7.7% compared to the same period last year.
Dell and Acer witnessed the biggest drops this quarter, with both companies having 10.1% and 16.4% fewer buyers in Q1 2015.
And here’s a chart that shows the figures:
The research firm has put up the EOS of Windows XP as one of the biggest reasons for this drop in PC shipments, as businesses and organizations rushed to upgrade their computers this time last year when Microsoft pulled the plug on its ancient operating system:
“The deceleration in the commercial market reflects the end of renewal waves of 2014, when growth was driven from one side by the end of Windows XP support in 1H2014 and from the other by a refresh cycle of old installed base in 2H2014.”
Another way to put it is that Microsoft’s operating system still continues to power a lot of computers, the world over, and organizations continue to stick to it.
The Fukushima nuclear plant operator, for example, plans to keep around 40,000 PCs on Window XP until 2018. No wonder then that the old OS still has a market share of at least 17% by some counts, and this ultimately ties into slower hardware sales.
Redmond would be hoping that the arrival of Windows 10 changes these fortunes.
