Windows 8 launched with great expectations, more so from the PC hardware industry that was seeing faltering sales due to the emergence of popular mobile platforms like iOS and Android.
However, the PC industry still continues to decline, a new IDC report reveals.
This new forecast recently issued by the market research firm International Data Corporation indicates that overall PC sales dipped by just a shade over 10 percent in 2013 compared to the previous year. And the biggest reason is that users see no reason to replace their current computers.
According to IDC analyst Loren Loverde:
“The emergence of 2-in-1 devices designed to function in both clamshell and slate configurations — many of which will run Windows — along with Windows-based tablets themselves, is expected to provide some new volume for the Windows platform as well as the PC vendors and other parts of the traditional PC ecosystem in coming years.
However, relative to a PC market size of roughly 300 million units, these Windows tablets would add just a couple percent a year relative to PC growth.”
Little hope for desktop PCs and notebooks, then.
But on the flipside, plenty of touch enabled tablets and hybrids have been released in the last few weeks, with hardware vendors trying to capitalize on the holiday shopping craze. Another positive is that there is a surefire interest among users to try out Windows 8.1, as statistics show.
Just how much this uplifts the industry remains to be seen. It should be evident, though, in a couple of months, once updated sales data is compiled early next year.
All Comments
I actually thought this article was about to detail some study saying people chose to stick with their current PC. The problem is not Windows 8. The problem is that people either like the system they have, don’t have the money to upgrade, or just don’t see a new computer being much better than the one they have. As much as people say “Microsoft should have given us a reason to switch to a new OS,” there is really nothing Microsoft could do even if people weren’t overly negative about 8. This is just the current state of PC sales, and making another OS exactly like Windows 7 would only have slowed it down some. The only people who are going to upgrade are people who have an older PC that just can’t stand up anymore or those who are a little more forward thinking about their needs
Those who haven’t upgrade will probably not until their system stops. Then they will complain that they lost all their data.