14 DAY TRIAL // Windows 8 will go live on October 25 and, besides the wide range of tools it brings to computer users, it will also support the overall growth of the hard-disk industry. At least, that’s what IHS iSuppli Research expects to happen.
A new study rolled out by this research firm reveals that Windows 8 is expected to boost HDD sales even more in the last months of the year, mostly because consumers will upgrade their PCs to make the move to the new operating system.
Together with ultrabooks, Windows 8 is very likely to support the growth of the PC industry that lost ground lately as sales of tablets and smartphones skyrocketed.
Curiously, market researcher IDC revealed last month that Windows 8 wouldn’t manage to revive the collapsing PC industry, but admitted that it would probably increase sales in the first months of availability.
"The U.S. market will remain depressed until Windows 8 products hit the shelves in the fourth quarter of 2012. The industry is responding by reducing shipments of PCs and clearing Windows 7-based inventories to pave the way for a new generation of systems,” said David Daoud, research director, Personal Computing at IDC.
Microsoft, on the other hand, has very high expectations when it comes to its new operating system and claims that Windows 8 will change the industry just like Windows 95 did when it became public. Company CEO Steve Ballmer says that although Windows 8 will be available on multiple platforms, the PC industry won’t be neglected at all.
“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 Seattle Times in an interview in early September.