Sales of the new Microsoft OS are likely to take off next year

Nov 19, 2012 11:58 GMT  ·  By

We’re yet to find out some official Windows 8 sales figures, but everyone in the industry calls it a “disappointing” product when it comes to its sales performance.

Merle McIntosh, the senior vice president of product management of Newegg North America, a top Microsoft retailer, told readwrite.com that sales of the new Windows iteration are indeed unexpectedly low.

Still, they’re going to take off completely in early 2013, as the hardware industry is also expected to record a significant recovery.

“So we planned with our partners to be prepared for an explosion,” McIntosh said.

“Did we really believe there was going to be one? Even within our own building, there were some people that thought that this was going to be the next coming of God, and other people were saying, this will be the next coming of God, but not until next year sometime,” McIntosh told the source.

“What we wanted to make sure with our own customers and our own business is that we were ready for any event. So yes, we were prepared for some pretty big upside on the software side of the equation, and the hardware side of the equation, and it is has been steadily improving. But it did not explode, as I think you know, coming out of the gate,” he continued.

Microsoft and CEO Steve Ballmer remain tight-lipped on the subject, but sources familiar with the matter have hinted the Redmond-based technology company is already considering the new operating system a “disappointing” piece of software.

Ballmer proudly said in late October that Windows 8 has managed to sell 4 million upgrades in just one weekend, emphasizing that it was only the first step towards record sales.

This doesn’t seem to happen, however, and Microsoft blames the collapsing PC market for Windows 8’s slow debut.

The lack of Windows 8 devices is seriously affecting sales of the operating system, Microsoft apparently believes, so the 2013 recovery of the PC industry is also expected to increase sales of Microsoft’s software.