14 DAY TRIAL // It’s no secret that Microsoft hopes to make Windows 8 a real best seller, but the first 9 months after its launch are critical, a company executive says.
Microsoft Vice President Keith Lorizio said in an interview with Beet.TV that the Redmond-based technology firm is willing to take full advantage of the 1 billion user market, so it expects Windows 8 sales to exceed the 400 million threshold by July 1.
These figures do not concern the Windows 8 operating system alone, but all products across its range shipped with the new OS, including the Surface tablet and the upcoming Windows Phones.
“When Windows 8 goes live on October 26, the [size of the market] is [over] 1 billion consumers. Our goal … is conservatively over 400 million units in the marketplace by July 1,” Lorizio explained.
CEO Steve Ballmer shares the same view on the matter and said in an interview with The Seattle Times in early September that Windows 8 would be fully aimed at the 400-million-unit PC market, despite the fact that it will also be available on other platforms.
“There's going to be close to 400 million PCs sold in the next year, which makes it a big market. And whether it's 405 (million) or 395 (million), it's a big market, and Windows 8 will propel that volume,” he told the newspaper.
Windows 8 will go on sale on October 26, together with the new Surface platform that features a special version of the operating system and a free copy of Office 2013.