XP end of support slowed down the decline of the PC market, new research shows

May 10, 2014 07:59 GMT  ·  By

Windows XP was officially retired on April 8 and, even though statistics are suggesting that millions of users continue to stay on this particular platform, a new research published by Canalys today reveals that the decline of the PC market has been slowed down by XP's demise.

Statistics published for the first quarter of 2014 show that worldwide PC shipments reached 123.7 million units, up 5 percent compared to the same period last year, while the notebooks industry lost only 7 percentage points year-on-year.

The majority of Windows XP computers cannot cope with the hardware requirements of a modern operating system, so users also need to purchase new PCs in order to meet Microsoft's end of support deadline for the platform launched in 2001.

Canalys says that this is actually one of the reasons why the drop of the PC market slowed down lately, as more users who were still on Windows XP decided to purchase new computers to keep their data secure.

“Commercial shipments the world over have been lifted by the end of life of Windows XP, a trend that also influenced desktops, helping shipments to remain flat year on year. Notably, however, notebooks and desktops in China, the world’s second largest PC market, declined 13% and 6% respectively compared with the previous year,” Canalys said in the research.

Net Application figures for the month of April 2014 revealed that 26 percent of the desktop computers worldwide are still running Windows XP despite all warnings issues by Microsoft since last year. Redmond explains that without support, a Windows XP computer can be easily hacked if someone finds an unpatched flaw, so it's critical for everyone to move to an operating system that still receives updates and patches.

“PCs running Windows XP after April 8, 2014, should not be considered to be protected, and it is important that you migrate to a current supported operating system – such as Windows 8.1 – so you can receive regular security updates to protect their computer from malicious attacks,” the company explained.

And still, not many seem to care about Microsoft's warnings, but Windows XP's market share is expected to drop significantly in the coming months as more large companies complete the transition to a newer operating system such as Windows 7. Microsoft, however, hopes that everyone will eventually move to Windows 8.1 and thus boost the adoption of its modern platforms.