14 DAY TRIAL // Windows 8 will see daylight next week and even though Microsoft expects to sell millions of units only this year, analysts believe that it could fail short of this mission.
What’s more, some say that Windows 8 may prove to be a very disappointing product in its first months on the market. Things are very likely to change in 2013 when more touch devices are expected to be released, analysts explained.
Barclays analyst Raimo Lenschow told ZDNet that Windows 8 deliveries could also be affected by the collapsing PC market, but sales boosts are expected to be registered starting early 2013.
“Although part of the justification for the PC weakness is commonly attributed to restrained buying ahead of Windows 8, a major snapback in shipments from such a large decline is difficult to imagine,” Lenschow explained.
Windows 8 may be a bit less attractive than Windows 7 at launch, mostly because the new operating system is a lot more focused on touch devices than its predecessor, Oppenheimer analyst Shaul Eyal told the same source.
“We expect Win8 to be a solid product. Near term, we believe there is less pent-up demand than when Win7 was released with fewer touch products available at launch date. Additionally, the fact that Win8 overhauls the user-interface could stretch the product cycle acceptance by a few quarters before catching on,” the analyst explained.
Unsurprisingly, analysts’ forecasts do not match Microsoft’s, as the Redmond-based technology company expects to see no less than 400 million devices running Windows 8 in the next 9 months. It remains to be seen, however, if Windows 8 really has the power to tackle the PC, the tablet and the mobile market is such an aggressive way.