14 DAY TRIAL // HP is one of the companies that still don’t find Windows 8 appealing enough to install it on new devices, and financial results for the third fiscal quarter of 2014 show that old Windows versions indeed help increase its sales.
HP has revealed that its revenue increased to $27.58 billion from $27.23 billion in Q3 2013, but its profits however dropped to $985 million. The PC business however posted a growth of 12 percent year-on-year, partially thanks to the Windows XP end of support which encouraged more buyers to shop for new PCs.
"The Windows XP expiration has contributed to our growth. Although we believe we’re now through much of that benefit," CEO Meg Whitman says.
"However, our product line-up, driven by products like our EliteBook Series and our x360 convertible notebook, is the strongest we’ve had in years and we continue to see customers looking to refresh their ageing installed base."
Windows XP was officially retired on April 8, but 25 percent of the desktop computers worldwide are still running it, despite the obvious security risks caused by vulnerabilities that could exist in the operating system.
Microsoft itself warns on every single occasion that users should move to a newer operating system, but up until now the migration from Windows XP has been going at a really slow pace. All eyes are on Windows 9, the next full Windows release that’s said to be a game changer for Microsoft and convince more users to upgrade thanks to a very rich feature lineup including a Start menu, Cortana, and more.