14 DAY TRIAL // Windows 8.1 was officially launched on October 18, with several OEMs across the world rushing to release new products running Microsoft’s latest operating system.
It turns out that the early sales performance of these new devices isn’t quite meeting expectations, as a report published by Digitimes claims that interest in Windows 8.1 products is dropping.
While no clear sales figures are available at this point, it appears that Android tablets and PCs are making Windows 8.1 tablets less attractive for customers across the world, with sales said to be 20 to 30 percent below expectations.
The problem is that Microsoft continues to bet big on Windows 8.1’s market appeal, as the company hopes to see increased sales for its modern operating system originally launched in October 2012.
A similar story has actually emerged soon after the public unveiling of Windows 8 too, but Redmond has at that time decided to keep everything secret and refuse to comment on early sales figures every time.
The company provided the media with vague statistics, claiming that sales of its modern platform were in line with those recorded by Windows 7 after launch.
In the end, statistics provided by third-party market researchers across the world demonstrated that Windows 8’s early uptake was really slow, with only 1 to 2 percent of the users making the move to this OS version in the first three months after the public unveiling.
At this point, Windows 8 is installed on approximately 8 percent of computers worldwide, but Microsoft of course expects the new 8.1 OS update to boost sales and increase adoption across the world.
Windows 8.1 packs a wide array of improvements, including a brand new Start button, options to boot directly to desktop and skip the Modern UI, as well as Internet Explorer 11 and Start screen customization options.